The origins of NHS BLOG DOCTOR

I have been a full-time GP now for over 20 years. My wife is a hospital consultant, specialising in breast cancer.

I am up to speed on EMIS [primary care clinical software] but I’m not a computer geek. So when a friend who works in the city said: ‘Have you read my blog?’ I felt rather like the judge in the 1960s who allegedly asked: ‘Who are The Beatles?’

‘It’s a weblog,’ he said, ‘an internet diary. You can say what you like. You can vent your spleen. You can rant and rave. You like that. Try it.’

So I did. Those nice people at Google have a system called Blogger. It’s free. Even a computer incompetent like me was able to master it.

What to call my new blog site? Well, I’m a doctor, I work in the NHS, it’s a blog. So I called it ‘NHS Blog Doctor’. No one can accuse me of lack of imagination.

But what to write?

Earlier that day, a patient whom I had referred to the colorectal clinic had been seen by a nurse specialist. That made me cross. I wanted him to see a doctor. I’m fussy like that. I hate this dumbing down of the health service. Air hostesses are charming but I do not want them flying the plane. So I wrote 500 words about colorectal nurse practitioners entitled ‘Who is flying up your backside?’ I pressed ‘enter’ and there it was, on the internet, for the world to read.

The day’s hiccup, that little aliquot of stress, had gone.

A patient with awful palpitations had been waiting for nine months for ablative surgery. He needed the same operation that Tony Blair had had immediately ‘on the NHS’. I was cross again. So I wrote an article entitled ‘Healthcare for the great and good’. I felt better. I did the same the next day, and the next and then the next. And people started reading it. A handful at first, but it rapidly built up to 500 readers a day and it continues to increase. there have now been approaching two million readers. So I keep doing it. It’s a big commitment now but it’s fun. It’s also stress relieving. It’s better than biting people.

And yes, before you ask, it’s good for the ego too.

‘Dr John Crippen’ is a GP principal who works in a semi-urban practice somewhere north of London, just outside the M25.

Legal Stuff

The contents of NHS BLOG DOCTOR are strictly the copyright of the author and all rights are reserved. Other bloggers are welcome to quote and use any of the content of the articles on the internet or in their own blogs but, please, mention NHS BLOG DOCTOR when you do

Short quotes for comment or review are welcome in print, but anyone wishing to use substantial parts or all of any of the articles is asked to contact NHS BLOG DOCTOR in advance.

NHS BLOG DOCTOR is written by Dr Crippen who is a British doctor practising within the NHS. All comments, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome either at the end of each post, or by direct e-mail to nhsblogdoc***AT***gmail***DOT***com

The articles in NHS BLOG DOCTOR are often of a light hearted nature and must not be used as a basis for medical treatment. Dr Crippen gets a large number of e-mails from the UK and abroad. He is always interested to hear of healthcare experiences, and grateful for any stories, information or even "tip-offs" that you may wish to contribute. Please keep them coming.

NHS BLOG DOCTOR complies with USA HIPAA patient confidentiality standards. Unless with prior permission, the stories about "patients" are fictionalised. The underlying points made about medicine are true, but they are clothed in fictional events.

The views expressed in NHS BLOG DOCTOR are those of the author and no one else. They most certainly do not represent NHS policy.

Dr Crippen is not able to give personal advice and anyone with medical problems must consult their own doctor.