The Britmeds 2007 (24)

Anatomy of the twaterati

…this piece is about the growing phenomenon of that oxymoron- a doctor who doesn’t see patients- a non patient-contact doctor. (NPC) It’s spectacularly easy to be the best doctor in the world when you are not seeing patients.

One of Dr Rant’s finest

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Am I going to die, doc?

How can we explain the paradox that men are hypochondriacs who won’t go to the doctor? As a GP I often see men who claim to have a serious illness but are so reluctant to visit me that their opening gambit is: “I’m only here because my wife insisted.”

Women in Times

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I do not have an answer to this

The UK Missing Children Website sports a number of missing children. While the rest of the world is concentrating on Madeleine Mccanne, I am going to feature a different missing child every few weeks. This is because I believe that just because Madeleine is a doctors' child and commands the attention of all the medical blogs does not mean other children are less important, especially children from the ethnic/black community who have never got as much publicity nor has the Pope ever offered to hold his hand out to their parents.

Another missing child

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Fear

I have always had a horror of goiters and been troubled by bad dreams of getting one. I have nothing against the goitered, so if you happen to have one and are reading this, I don’t mean to be insulting; I’m sorry for your troubles and that, I just have an unholy fear of them, and this is why:

One day, when I was a little girl....

Problem child bride

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Meanwhile…

A & E services at the hospital where Kezia was first diagnosed with leukaemia are being axed and replaced with an "urgent care centre". What I imagine Dr Crippen would term "dumbing down".

Life with leukaemia

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More lives at risk

The sentiments of the people below are those representative of the United Kingdom. NHS Cuts have been evident for many years now placing patients at risk. The public has attempted to protest but most issues are not taken up in the national papers. Even if they are, they remain a flash in the pan. The main issue is this, if something isn't done now, the effects will be extremely serious.

I loved the idea of gatecrashing an NHS Trust board. I can imagine all their faces.

NHS Exposed

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Fat children should be put down

Children's charities have expressed concern after medical experts were reported to have called for obese children to be 'put down'. "It would be in the best interests of the child," one expert is reported to have said.

UK Daily Pundit

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Stop being ill, say doctors

DOCTORS have better things to do than treat ill people, according to a new report from the British Medical Association.

The Daily Mash

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Taking the shilling…

When my oldest child was born - 15 years ago… gulp! - my partner and I made a conscious decision that, I’m glad to say has born dividends and has, so I’m convinced, rewarded my son, and his younger sister, who came along later, with something very precious and yet also something that money can’t buy.

That something is good health, and the decision we took was simply that when he became ill, as children invariably do from time to time, we would look to the NHS for help only when it was absolutely necessary; that we wouldn’t be the kind of neurotic parents who go running to the GP to demand a cocktail of potions and lotions at the first sign of a sniffle.

The Ministry of Truth

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General Medical Council Regulation Handbook : How To Ruin A Poor Medical Doctor , Using The Civil Burden Of Proof (Volume 1 Chapter 1)

Before Lord Justice Tuckey, Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Lawrence Collins

Judgment April 30, 2007

Abolish the GMC

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How independent is The Independent?

Hay fever: the cure and the catch
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Published: 12 June 2007

A once-a-day pill for hay fever that could transform the lives of sufferers is being denied to thousands of those most severely affected because of the cost. The pill, which is dissolved under the tongue, is the first oral vaccine developed for hay fever. But the majority of NHS trusts have failed to fund it.

The Ministry of Truth takes a look…

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This doctor may be unwell

“I have been inspired by Patrica Hewitt…”

Thick as two short planks

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Soaking the rich

NURSES face a £300-a-year bill to park their car at Glasgow hospitals - despite plans to slash proposed charges. Union leaders say nurses are angry over plans to introduce £25-a-month permits at four major sites in the city.

As revealed in yesterday's Evening Times, the compromise follows a health board review of the charges, being introduced on July 29, following protests from patients, staff and visitors. Staff earning £10,000 to £30,000 a year can apply for a £25-a-month permit, while those on less than £10,000 will be charged £5 for four weeks.

Eveningtimes

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Sicilian volcanoes

Mount Etna

John Dawson has been walking the Sicilian volcanoes. What has that got to do with medicine, you make ask? A lot. If Dr Crippen did not escape to the Lake District from time to time, he would not cope and if you want a guide for the Lake District, after Wainwright, it does not get better than John Dawson

John was lucky enough to be up on the Fells on Christmas day when there was a cloud inversion

The Scafells peeping through a cloud inversion

Spend a few minutes looking at John Dawson's photographs, which can all be seen at:


John Dawson’s Lake District walks

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Mr Hunnybun has dyslexia

A day at the pharmacy

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21 Ways to catch cancer

The following article is by a guest writer Martin Weatherall, an advocate in the harmful effects of electro magnetic radiation (EMR). This article comes from his work detailing sources of EMR from dangerous antennas in the area of Woodstock Ontario. Having being effected by EMR himself Martin put together the following list of cancer causing points. I was surprised just how many I get exposed to on a daily basis.

I’m a fish

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Time to abolish NICE

What Nice is doing, therefore, is giving a spurious appearance of rationality to what are, in fact, cruel and stupid decisions. And in doing so, it is involuntarily giving legitimacy to those decisions.

Stumbling and Mumbling


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Telephonic auscultation

Some years back, I developed a chest infection. I knew it was a chest infection. I’ve had them before, and I knew this was another one. I was feeling too rough to get down to my GP’s surgery, so I phoned up, explained my symptoms to him over the phone, and demonstrated my rather spectacular cough. He agreed it was a chest infection. He said he would phone a prescription for antibiotics into the pharmacist’s, and get them to deliver the prescription to me. So far, so good but unfortunately…

Funky Mango’s Musings

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Holford Watch - The Truth About Patrick Holford, Media Nutritionist

Dr Sarah Jarvis v Patrick Holford

Dr Crippen thought Patrick sounded fairly benign and was beginning to fell sorry for him when Sarah went on the attack. But why does the mainstream media give so much sofa space to these people?

Who do you think won the debate ?And make sure you look at the comments.

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Topless cardiac arrest

Dr Wonderbra believed that Gossard Wonderbra was an essential accessory to every female junior doctor. Discussions had gone on in the doctors mess two weeks before stating the serious problem with the new sports bras that just did not hold the essentials while running…to a cardiac arrest

Dr Wonderbra


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Dr Rant’s teaser

Do you believe it? Is it true?

A prize for the first commentator to name the names


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Here's a rare thing: an honest doctor who admits to mistakes!

Most of the time, they are patients whom I think I've done all I possibly could for, so I can accept it. But there are always the others. Six months ago, I was performing a thyroid operation on a teacher my age and damaged a nerve that led to her vocal cords. This woman can no longer talk and has had to give up work. The only way I can live with myself is to try to do all I can for her and understand what I did wrong and do better next time. Being sorry is not enough."

Obesity and the salt connection

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I Never Knew My Nice Glass Of Wine At Home Was Killing Me

After a stressful day Judith Heath would regularly open a bottle of wine to share with her husband over supper. As manager of a busy GP surgery she found the alcohol helped her to unwind.

When Judith, 56, and her boss fell out she began drinking more. Instead of one bottle Judith started drinking up to a bottle and a half every evening.

Alcoholic’s anonymous review

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Midwives go to the Devil

The two midwives should have all of their orifices filled with cockroaches and then they should be placed in the stocks for three days. If they survive that, then….

The DK takes on the nursing profession and has a formidable opponent in the ever robust A & E Charge Nurse.

Make sure you read the comments

The Devil's Kitchen

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Who needs doctors?

Know more than your Doctor: the online "bog-standard medical course" for the general public courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.

As the NHS continues its slow collapse, this course in its daily bite-sized pieces will prove perfect for patients, relatives, funeral directors, lawyers and news readers.

Knowmore

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Mental doctor banned for faked CV
By Daniel Knowles

Doctors applying for work at the troubled Springfield Hospital face tougher checks after a locum employed there was suspended by a medical watchdog for faking his CV.

Local guardian

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MTAS and MMC

No time for celebration

The fancier has been lucky enough to secure employment for August this year, however there are many who have not yet been so lucky. Remedy Uk is running a list which contains all the junior doctors who are staring unemployment in the face at the moment.

It's hard to sum up just how traumatic this year has been for everyone involved, and this trauma is not yet over for the majority of candidates, it must seem that it will never end. It has been five months of uncertainty so far, and this will stretch towards eight months for many. And this stress has been all added on top of working in some pretty demanding roles as it is. I am quite sure that this has been too much for some people to take, the emotional and physical drain has taken its inevitable toll.

The Ferret

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Philip Smith was the junior doctor who famously heckled and questioned Patricia Hewitt on Question Time



He now describes in detail the disillusionment felt by many junior doctors this year.

The really ridiculous thing is that I voted Labour in power in 1997, my first ever vote. I’m from a working class background, my parents never attended university, I went to a comprehensive school, fought for my life in intensive care twice in the last ten years because of my Crohn’s disease and even wrote a book encouraging people like me to go the medical school. The Labour government betrayed me and my generation of doctors over tuition fees, now for many unemployment beckons. All I ever wanted to be was a doctor. I’m sure there are thousands of doctors just like me that feel the same but whose lives have been ruined by this fiasco. This is a national disgrace and something that should not be allowed to be hidden under other bad news. Shame on you Patricia – ‘this is your legacy, this is Tony Blair’s legacy – leave now!’

Dr Philip Smith

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Tested to destruction

I used to be a doctor; intelligent, self-aware, able to assess my abilities, ready and willing to address my deficits, self-educating, self-regulating...

Now? I'm a rat in a cage, an experimental object, unprotected prey to the confused, conflicting agendas of anyone who puts their hand up.

Dr Rant

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Please send your recommendations for next week’s BritMeds to: thebritmedsATnhsblogdoc.wanadoo.co.uk

The BritMeds will now be published on Saturday morning, so please let me have your recommendations by Friday evening latest.