7 London Polyclinics now open

Loxford Polyclinic - Redbridge

“How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will”

"Seven new generation polyclinics which will bring a range of services under one roof have been opened in London.

Junior Health Minister Lord Ara Darzi opened Loxford Polyclinic in Ilford, east London, which promises 20 services including a healthy living cafe." (Watch video clip)

"Heather O'Meara, chief executive of NHS Redbridge, said: "We know people need better access to services and we need to bring care closer to their homes. This is 100 times better than what I envisaged. I could not be more proud of it. I want to see four more polyclinics set up in Redbridge in the next four years. It is an opportunity to take services that were in very poor buildings and bring them into a state-of-the-art centre. An enormous amount of energy and resources is focused on treating illness when the key is really preventing it in the first place. Polyclinics will help us redirect this focus and empower people to make healthier lifestyle choices."

Ruth Carnall, chief executive of NHS London, said: "Today's launch of seven polyclinics sees Lord Darzi's vision of improving health care for London become a reality.

"Polyclinics will transform primary and community care in London for the better, delivering accessible, high quality services which will ultimately reduce health inequalities."

The other polyclinics which opened on Wednesday are

• Alexandra Avenue, South Harrow
• Heart of Hounslow, Hounslow
• Gracefield Gardens Health and Social Care Centre, Lambeth
• Oliver Road Polyclinic, Waltham Forest
• The Barkantine Centre, Tower Hamlets
• Hammersmith Hospital, Hammersmith

Now that those polyclinics are a reality, I suppose they will act as a test ground for both patients as well as existing GPs in Redbridge. Everybody will now soon find out that those facilities will not destablise existing GP services, but will actually do the opposite and enhance as well as relief the pressure on existing GPs as well as hospitals in that area .. serve hard to get to patients and employ the younger doctors and other newly graduated but jobless health staff too.

An innovative idea that is sure to work for everybody ... including existing GPs ...

I am sure it will be fine for everybody for this intends to do good not harm :-)

“There is hope in dreams, imagination, and in the courage of those who wish to make those dreams a reality.”

You swine! How dare you?!

“Much smoke kills live men and cures dead swine.”

No one will ever forget that strange day,

When the fattest pink pig at the fair flew away,

The onlookers theorised great explanations,

But the truth was an answer with no complications,

The fat pig was angry where his life was heading,

A destiny so greusome he's always been dreading,

In his fat heart he knew how he wanted to be,

and so he did the impossible! .. and flu himself away ....


.. and those who can will get the gruesome swine down again ... :-)



and you know what happened because of that fat pig?!
Jack, my Irish friend's other brother, he only got married two days ago .. I've just heard she was soooo afraid of catching the 'deadly' swine virus, she had a loud fight with him at the party ... and at the end, he went to honeymoon in Mexico ... alone! :-(












“The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of being hurt”

Who wants to be an NHS millionaire? :-)

“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

"Nurses, hospital porters and other health workers could become millionaires overnight if they have ingenious ideas to boost efficiency and save money in the over-stretched National Health Service.

With the NHS now having to find efficiency savings of £2.3bn this year alone, and facing a budget freeze in future years, the government believes healthcare standards can continue to improve in a recession only if the 1.3 million NHS staff think constantly about "innovation".

Lord Darzi, the health minister, has secured £20m from NHS funds, which will be awarded in prizes over the next four years to those with the best ideas."

What a brilliant idea! Rewarding excellence and innovation. Making it everybody's business to strive for better use of resources and encourage excellence and innovation for the benefit of all patients and staff in the NHS .. and boss did give a hint that he was thinking about this idea of reward and prizes for innovation here (towards the end of the video.)

Lord Darzi : "It is a case of changing the mindset," he said. "We want everyone to be thinking about innovation, because that is what will drive improvement."

Everyone, everyone? Including end users; patients and members of the public? Do we get to become instant millionaires too if we came up with fantastic savings ideas for our beloved NHS? Is there a prize 'price list' or something? Well, you know ... It's a business partnership after all, especially that other government depts will be watching and waiting to 'grab' and benefit from the best ideas too, right?

.. and if a member of the public has a good idea, how do they go about telling about it, eh?

You know, it is not just in the NHS ... this country is full of talent .. all waiting to be unlocked ... all waiting for a chance ...

In effect, boss is saying to 'everyone':

Commit to quality .. and quality will commit to you

That's the way boss .. brilliant! ... as always ... :-)


“He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had not tried.”

Susan .. you're beautiful! :-)

“I do my thing and you do yours. I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful. If not, it can't be helped.”

Which face is the odd one out?

I don't know BBC, who IS the odd one out?

"The writer and aesthete preferred beauty pageants to talent contests, and once famously remarked: "It is better to be beautiful than to be good, but it is better to be good than to be ugly. So who knows what he would have made of the audience rising to its feet to acclaim singer Susan Boyle, who has been unkindly described as "hairy angel" "ugly duckling" and "Shrek""

"Boyle taps into the way we want to think being good is what counts, says Gill

'It's the message of the Ugly Duckling, that if you have got what it takes within you, then the external doesn't matter'

'Boyle demonstrated her internal "swanness" of character despite her Ugly Duckling appearance"'

"The Hollywood movie industry figured that out in the 1940s, that you don't need to act that well as long as you look good. The very fact that we are astonished by Susan Boyle makes it an oddity, so it won't break down barriers, it will have the opposite effect."

I don't think this above is very kind BBC and I don't think you have the right to call this woman an 'ugly duckling' or comment on her 'eyebrows', not nice! Even though you made the heartless article sound as if it was from the perspective of others who admired Susan Boyle for whatever reason they had. Why didn't anyone consider the impact on Ms Boyle when she reads all this? I think licence payers like myself expect more ethical standards from the BBC than that ill displayed and ill thought and written article. You had no right and if I were Susan, I would not have been at all happy about how this article was written or the comparison making her, or anybody else, an 'odd one out' either!

And you know what! She is the odd one out alright! The one most beautiful because she is the only one who doesn't look manufactured especially for your picture .. she does not look fake!

I think people are tired of all those fake, made up models the media presents on a minute to minute basis. People want to go back to basics on this one too, they want to see 'real' for a change! We're tired of fake ... as you have merely touched upon in your article!

People do long for someone real .. for real! .. and Susan was 'it'!

And in our high times of doom and gloom, this is what Susan sang to the credit and fake crunched people of the whole world:

There was a time when men were kind

When their voices were soft

And their words inviting

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting

There was a time

Then it all went wrong



I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high

And life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used and wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung, no wine untasted


But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

And they turn your dream to shame


He slept a summer by my side

He filled my days with endless wonder

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came



And still I dream he'll come to me

That we will live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms we cannot weather


I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Although not her own but with these words, her amazing voice, her presence, her true smile, her child like happiness, how she extends her hand to touch everybody and her outstanding shine ... she sang what people wanted to hear because she sang what people truly feel ... feelings that, for many, has near enough resemblence to their current situation or at least temporary fears that seem to have culminated in that last stanza. But .. despite the pain ...

She gave people hope!

She was a breath of fresh air. That's why people from around the world, in their 100s of millions are still rushing to see and hear this woman .. it's because ...

Susan .. you are sooo beauuutiful, you do 'stand out' ..

and there is nothing wrong with refining yourself a bit .. I am sure it will enrich and not change your inside ... That's the way girl ... good for you! :-)



“I want to learn more and more to see as beautiful what is necessary in things; then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful”















Lend me a cigarette anyone? .. Pleeeease! :-( )

:-)

Magic 105.4 .. Yep! :-)

"Making it possible is to see a new beauty in what is vanishing. "

And so ... I was 'convinced' to see my GP about two weeks ago .. and ask for urgent help! .. to stop smoking .. to save my lungs, my head .. my heart .. my bones .. my skin ... etc .. etc .. and my GP was extremely encouraging, extremely helpful and extremely nice .. comme d'abitude .. and so, I got me some of that champion of 'quit'em' medicine

The first two weeks, no problem at all because I was allowed to smoke as usual while taking the medicine which I thought was brilliant! But I had to decide on a date between day 8 and 14 to stop smoking :-( .. and soo I chose day 14 , naturally .. and doesn't time just run by! :-)

The medicine does exactly what it says on the tin .. it blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain ... and most other receptors too, me thinks! ... for I have been asleep for the majority of the past two weeks! And now and since Monday, no cigarettes! After all these years! .. and strangely enough, I don't miss 'smoking' them .. that much! The only problem is, what do I do with my hand?! You know, the one that held the cigarette .. in my case, it's the right one? .. and .. what do I put in my mouth instead?!

The only logical answer to that seemed and still seems to be .. food! What else?!

So here I am .. no cigarettes but I have put on around 3 lbs in only three days .. Fantastic!

.. and I am living the easy life .. doing nothing at all! Cos I can't think of anything at all but 'them' ... all the time .. when and if I am awake that is .. and to take my mind off the whole thing .. and find something to do with that free hand, instead of the continuous unstoppable urge to eat .. I have been hugging the outer lane of some motorways for the past 2 days ... and I am writing this now ... before I am off again ... :-)

I tell you what, if you want to forget about things, anything .. as well as revitalise and recharge .. there is nothing better than driving the car in the outer lane in the full sun .. to St anywhere! .. Today, it's Oxford, near Brasenose College and it's beautiful Radcliffe Square and, with all the money I am now saving, there is that amazing huuuuge and sumptiously juicy oysters bar inside that covered market nearby... shall we say a dozen? .. with a bit of Tabasco sauce, a little chopped spring onions, a small vinaigrette and some chunky home made brown bread .. and a tall glass of apple juice .. with a touch of lime .. and maybe a bit of that baked chocolate and vanilla cheese cake for afters? Some biscuits to eat in the car on the way back?

All this is lots more expensive than a pack of cigarettes of course .... and I already am the type who needs to watch what I eat because I don't look how I should when overweight or with a face like an over inflated balloon .. and I do wonder how am I going to feel about that too?! But .. ya .. most important of all of course is, if anyone asks, I'll be able to say,

I don't smoke, thank you ... I .. eat! :-)

And so ... I am moving from one set of statistics to another .. with it's own set of 'problems' .. I can't win, eh?! BUT, the 'kids' .. AND the government .. say that this is good for me ... soooo .. I believe them, they are the professionals and they know better! And, who am I to object anyway?! So, I won't ... and I won't even question what will the new me 'eventually' die of now? .... I am sure I'll be spoilt for 'choice!'

And ... if I am ballooning anyway .. I'll do it in style! Eat .. eat .. eat! The best food in the best places in all the best towns ... regardless of cost! .. There! ... that's my revenge! :-( )

Ya .. and it's time to tune that radio to Magic 105.4 ... put the volume to full blast .. and get onto the M40 .. and get singing ...Welcome to The Hotel Caaalifornia ... such a loooovely plaaace ...

... and isn't today such a lovely daaay ... ;-)




Coming out ...[click]
Whoooo hoo hoooo [click]

"You achieve the surreal jokes through the realism by making it elastic." :-)

Dear London Deanery

“It is through cooperation, rather than conflict, that your greatest successes will be derived”

Remember them?

I met one of those young doctors yesterday. I was really surprised that they still have not heard yet about their new job offer. That those doctors already in run through posts but who have now secured new offers in another specialty in round one of 2009, have not had any sort of confirmation of employment nor know where they will work, for how much or any other information regarding the new jobs at all!

Nearly two whole months after recieveing the new offers!

I have also found out that they know of at least three more doctors in differing levels of training who are all stuck in the same situation! All either changing region and/or changing specialty and all have new job offers

Those I hear of have their new offers with The London Deanery.

I do not know the situation with other deaneries but those l heard of have no further news to date ... despite e-mailing the deanery and explaining their situation and that they need a firm guarantee of employment so that they can give notice to their current employer. I hear that one of those young doctors needs to give a three month notice to the current employer, meaning, by 1 May at the most if they are to start the new job on 1 August! I also hear that this person has already explained that to the new deanery but the reply from the deanery simply said that they would be contacted when allocation is done! ... and that was it to date!

Then you hear that if a young doctor does not take the employment they were offered for any reason, they can be referred to the GMC! ... Well, those doctors do not want to withdraw from the new job offers and do want the new jobs but they can't be in two places at the same time. They are also within their rights not to give notice to their current employers unless they have secured something firm in their hands. They have already done everything they can by contacting their new deanery and explaining, yet they still find themselves stuck in this worrying situation! What else are they expected to do?! What more could and should they do? How many other doctors are stuck in that same situation with other deaneries?

Those doctors have nothing solid in their hands to allow them to give notice to their current employers.

Those young doctors also understand that the jobs they intend to leave need to be filled by someone else too, otherwise their current deanery would run into difficulties and so would patient care. They do also understand that the jobs they intend to leave would also provide training opportunities to other doctors who maybe without a training post at the moment .. So, it is not the doctors' fault if all these obligations are not fullfilled because they have done their part and so, the onus is now on the deaneries, including the one we know of at the moment ... so ..

Dear London Deanery ...

I sincerely do hope you understand all this above .. Those young doctors hope that you will not be the obstacle for what should really be a smooth and simple process of changing jobs. Not a process that will become as stressful as it has become now for them. Especially that it is nearly two months now since those young doctors received the new job offers from you. Offers which clearly state that they are 'not a guaranteed offer of employment'.

We therefore, urge the London Deanery to please co-operate with those young doctors caught in this predicament. Because it is unfair to expect those doctors to risk it by giving notice to their current 'guaranteed' jobs in the hope your deanery will fulfill the new offers you made to them, despite it being clearly stated that you may not as this would be, as you may be aware, like exchanging bread for hot air ... or much more ...

I sincerely hope those doctors caught in this situation will hear some favourable news from this deanery very soon. In time for them to give notice to their current employers. At least one of those doctors needs to do that by 1st of May at the most.

Thanking you in anticipation of your urgent cooperation in this matter London Deanery ..

Those doctors are a special case so please help them :-)

I sincerely hope other deaneries with similar senarios will help those in similar situations too.


“Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.”

A whole new review into GP! :-)

"Darwin! This jungle! .. Spare meee ... Pleeeease!"

Major inquiry into GP care looks set to dwarf even that of the Darzi Review

"A wide-ranging, root-and-branch review of every aspect of medical care? Project teams to focus on specific areas such as long-term conditions, health inequalities and end-of-life care? A national consultation process including not only key stakeholders but GPs, patients and the public to try to ensure a genuinely inclusive report?

Haven’t we been here before?

It’s true, certainly, that the King's Fund inquiry has certain similarities to Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review which concluded, let’s not forget, only last year. Why, even the line-up is familiar - RCGP chair Professor Steve Field and NHS Alliance chairman Dr Michael Dixon, both key figures on the King’s Fund inquiry’s expert panel, also served as advisers to Lord Darzi’s review.

But there are at least four key differences too.

• Firstly and most obviously, it’s all about primary care. The Darzi review, true, encompassed primary care as part of its overall remit, and in fact had a dedicated Primary and Community Care Strategy attached. But the feeling of many – including Professor Field and Dr Dixon – was that primary care came off second best under Lord Darzi. This inquiry aims to redress that."

Well, you can't say the good lord hasn't tried! ... and tried and tried many, many times ... and the whole thing would've been finished by now ... but ... it was 'they' who didn't like the 'surgeon' cos, as 'they' said, he does not understand GP! .. At least now they have one of their own, the top man himself, and he's 'one' who does understand GP, right? In fact the top man was advisor to Darzi during the making of his Review so .. nothing new really!

18 whoooole months! .. to include patients too! ...Good Lord! That's going to be one thorough review!

Ah, well! But, I saw it coming! ... and even I, who doesn't know much, tried .. and tried ...

Meanwhile .... It pays to co-operate, the juniors did ... very wise ;-)



- Who's the man with the big Havana cigar?
- Where?
- The one laughing aloud up there ...

Rebel!

“What is a rebel? A man or woman who has the guts to stand tall and say NO!”


The whole sad story is here .. and here ... and here ... and here .. and here .. and all over the press .. and here too
And I want to know why did it take a whole decade for Dr Rita Pal's voice to be properly heard?! Has it? What will happen next in North Sttafordshire?

Why did she have to sacrifice her career when what she was trying to do was to protect what was left of her patients?

And why did she have to endure being hounded, tormented and victimised for so long by her own regulators, the GMC? How valid are those regulators and how can they be trusted in the future?

And, why didn't The Health Care Commission investigate the happenings in North Staffordshire when this young doctor blew the whistle? Are they now?

With all the on-going reform of the whole of the NHS, concentrating on Quality and Safety .. and with all the accompanying new bodies springing everywhere to ensure same, shouldn't there be a new independent 'Transparency' body where clinical staff can, without fearing for their own careers, go to report failings in their place of work? A body that will protect those rebels ..

If only for patients' safety sake?

God, those who don't live in Staffordshire are lucky! @@

" Oh, she's a girl alright! Only she's the type that's too much for the 'average' boy to handle! .... She's an Alfa girl"

Spring is here and so ... I resign :-)

I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.

I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it is a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle,

Skid rocks across the mill pond and make a sidewalk with rocks.

I want to roller skate and play ball in the street,

play 'Rover Red Rover', 'Hide and Seek'

and ride my iron wheel wagon down the hill.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money

because you can eat them.

I want to lie under a big oak tree

and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple.

When all I knew were colors, most of my multiplication tables,

and a few nursery rhymes.

All I knew was to be happy

and I was blissfully unaware

of all the things that should make me worried or upset.

I want to sleep in a tent in the back yard without worry or fear.

I want to think the world is fair.

That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe anything is possible.

I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life

and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simple again.

I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes,

mountains of paperwork, depressing news,

how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank,

doctor's bills, gossip, illness, and the loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles,

hugs, kind words, truth, justice, peace, dreams,

imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So here is my check book and my car keys,

my credit card bills and all my statements.

I am officially resigning from adulthood.

And if you want to discuss this further,

you'll have to catch me first, cause...

TAG! YOU'RE IT!

Happy Easter :-)

“I want everyone in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming” :-)

Moral Capitalism

"“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." Charles Darwin

Critique: Capitalism

Capitalism is based on the Darwenian concept of survival of the fittest. While I am aware of no nation that practices a pure form of this economic system, several Western countries use a form of capitalism at the core of their economies. Scaled-down examples of capitalism are flea markets, bazzars and black market trading.

Properties of Capitalism

• Social/cultural rules and political laws define the environment.
• Supply and demand provide environmental pressures.
• Those that best "fit" that environment survive and maintain the rules/laws.
• Those that can't/don't thrive in the system, and otherwise lack participation, are culled.
• Successful capitalistic systems tend to be open and competitive.
• A healthy capitalistic system results in economic incentives.

Advantages of Capitalism

• Capitalism is an internally stable economic system, in that it is consistent with human behavior. People understand that life is not fair - there's no "free lunch". You have to work to survive, and only the lucky who manage to thrive within the socio-economic matrix make it to the top. As long as there is a belief/hope that one can advance in the system, there is an incentive to participate.
• Capitalism is also externally stable, in that survival in a capitalistic system requires innovation and flexibilty to keep up with the changes in supply and demand. Such a system is generally prepared to deal with the influx of competition from external sources.
• Large populations are likely to be diverse, which is beneficial to healthy capitalistic systems.
• Large, diversified societies tend to gravitate towards heirarchical social systems; capitalism easily adapts to such structures.

Disadvantages of Capitalism

• It is not acceptable in most modern societies to allow portions of their population to be "culled".
• Those in power tend to construct rules that limit diversity and competition, thereby weakening the flexibility and strength of the system as a whole.
• Vast imbalances in opportunity encourages revolt, which disrupts and destablizes the system.

Remedies for Capitalism

• Create secondary social mechanisms to support those that do not "fit" in the socio-economic system.
• Encourage the inclusion of all members of the population to compete, and open up competition to external markets, in order to maximize diversity and flexibility.
• Educate the elite to the systemic benefits of resource distribution, and encourage incentives for such distribution."

Aren't those 'remedies' what is now so called 'moral capitalism' ? .. or ... 'New world order'? A bit familiar! ... But ... that's not the whole story ...

Doesn't matter, the world seems to be on the road to recovery already .. Great news! ... and only a few days after that G20 summit! ... Magic! :-)


”But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought." George Orwell



"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." George Orwell

Charles: Change ... or die!
George: Is this an order?

MTAS was a devil!

“Calvin: Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man? Hobbes: I'm not sure that man needs the help”

This is a reader's comment on wether it is time to reject the EWTD. It explains why junior doctors are worried about the looming full implementation of that directive

"The worry about Doctors' working hours is based on the idea that the number of "Junior" Doctors should be planned to guarantee them a reasonable chance of a Consultant post at the 'end of their training'. They are paid for the time they study towards being a Consultant. Their careers and working patterns are planned to progress to a Consultant Post. The numbers of posts for Hospital Doctors outside this training pathway are limited by agreement between the Profession and the NHS. Junior Doctors' education needs are routinely considered in making decisions on hospital placement and organisation. Surely this is a case of the tail, Medical Training, wagging the dog, Professional Service.

To plan the provision of medical cover to suit the needs of the patients would mean that the 'promise' (or dream) of a Consultant post for every trainee might have to be abandoned. Junior Doctors would have to face the probability that only the outstanding (or outstandingly lucky) would achieve this.

The "trainees" would become lower grade professionals. Their "training" would become a period serving patients. Their duties planned to give this service, not 'a rounded portfolio of professional experience'."

Explains a lot, doesn't it? I could not understand before why, for example, was Remedy UK calling for a reduction in the number of training posts this year, Why was it also asking the government to explain why were lots of trust posts converted to run through training in 2007 .. and why those rejected by 2007 MTAS are unable to let go of getting those who caused MTAS to be held to account? .. This above explains it all!

MTAS has already selected those who will progress to proper consultant level in round one of 2007. Those have already got the best jobs and the best proper training posts .. the rest, regardless of their calibre are being pushed to 'serve' in a go-nowhere-middle grade, hence the watered down training! Then you think ... but MTAS wasn't fair! It did not select proper! You do not have top calibre for top calibre posts from round 1 of 2007! And it is unfair to sacrifice top calibre doctors because of MTAS and it's ficticious senarios white boxes?!

Is this the real reason why young doctors are vehemently against the EWTD? Is this why the government can not see any problems with it's full implementation? Why so many doctors left the country and/or left medicine all together? .. Or indeed, why, two years on, are some of the 2007 high calibre young doctors who were caught in the MTAS 2007 debacle are even changing specialty in an attempt to save themselves? because where they ended up when they were 'saved' in round 2 of 2007 .. is going nowhere?!

If nothing is done, the MTAS effect on it's 'victims' is going to last a lifetime ...

This is not right! This is the work of the DEVIL! MTAS was a man made devil!

Why was 'that' devil getting away with it, was what I found 'baffling' .. but not so anymore! ..

Good luck Remedy UK ... in whatever you do ...

And time for that glorious BMA building in that most prime location to be more cost effective ... time for it to be converted into flats ...


“Neutral men are the devil's allies.”

Hail Obama ... :-)

Obama:

"Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not and will never be at war with Islam.In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."

'You cannot put out fire with flames.'

No, you can't put fire out with flames, you can put fire out by acknowledging that there is/was a fire first, then put that out with love, respect and a real desire for PEACE

Maybe it is time we all said sorry to each other for whatever we have done to each other in the name of 'religion'

Hail Obama, I am in .. and I am sorry for whatever my ancestors wrongly done to other peoples in the name of Islam .. Not in my name!

Let's rid the world of wars, of genocides, of fanatisism, of terror .. of fear ...

Then let's unite

let's celebrate humanity ....

Let's celebrate;

PEACE, LOVE AND PROSPERITY IN THE WORLD

Go for it Obama, brother of all faiths ... and hopefully ... Brother of the world ... :-)

You only live once ...

“The trodden path is the safest”

The European Working Time Directive will be in full force this coming August. Doctors leaders say we are not ready for this directive to be implemented and channel 4 highlights the problem in detail in this clip. Some suggest that opting out is the only solution and suggest that a 65 hour week is the ideal for young surgeons but no one is saying why did MMC 2007 change a well tested system that produced our top surgeons; some of the very best in the world using the old tried and tested system and reduce a surgeons training hours from 30,000 to about a quarter of that? The result is that now young surgeons feel that patient safety has already been compromised and will be further compromised when the EWTD is fully implemented this August.

While one understands that new technology such as simulation as well as virtual reality, new surgical technics like keyhole surgery and robotics can produce competent surgeons in less time than the old 30,000, young surgeons themselves can't see how this can be 'safely' quartered still?! Dangerous stuff when young surgeons go to the extreme of voicing their concern on national TV about how watered down their training currently is, they can not trust themselves operating safely on their patients ... for whatever reason!

As for the impact of the EWTD, while it should be up to young doctors to choose how they work and not have that imposed on them by force, not all young surgeons want to work a 65+ hour week but, as suggested in the Channel 4 clip, and the majority young surgeons want to right to choose how many hours they should work and not have that imposed on them by Brussels. Some say that a 56 hour week maximum and extending their training years is the best solution. Currently, many young surgeons stay the extra hours but do not register or get paid for same and that is not fair or right. They say they have no other option but to do that, after all, if a shift ends, say, at 4pm but theatre closes at 5pm, a surgeon is not just going to leave their patient because their shift has ended!

I don't think it is a good idea that young doctors should return to excessively long working hours for this does not only make them too tired to operate safely but also steals the time they can have to themselves and their families and doctors do need to have a life too.

Work, any work, is a mean to earning a living and no more. It should never take the place of life itself. IMHO no one should be married to a job!, not even a doc!

After all, doctors too don't get to be in their 20s or 30s twice.

And to solve the problem of the EWTD, training time should be extended, but most of all ... we need more doctors ... it is as simple as that ...

Maybe it's time for our young surgeons in Australia to come back home ... If only someone tells them we need them ... badly!

Patient or doc .. you only live once ;-)


“We are chameleons, and our partialities and prejudices change place with an easy and blessed facility, and we are soon wonted to the change and happy in it.”