{"id":35995,"date":"2016-01-13T12:13:41","date_gmt":"2016-01-13T11:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=35995"},"modified":"2016-01-13T12:15:07","modified_gmt":"2016-01-13T11:15:07","slug":"elizabeth-wortley-what-the-junior-doctors-strike-taught-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2016\/01\/13\/elizabeth-wortley-what-the-junior-doctors-strike-taught-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Wortley: What the junior doctors’ strike taught me"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I came\u00a0off the picket line having enjoyed some lively conversations with my colleagues. As passing drivers honked their horns in support, one of my colleagues observed that it\u2019s a shame we don\u2019t get together to provide more support for each other regularly. This started a discussion about our attitudes towards each other on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

I like to think I\u2019m a nice person. I really did become a doctor “to help people\u201d (and its\u2019 interesting). But I have a confession… Sometimes I go on a rant about my colleagues from other specialities.<\/p>\n

And I think if we all reflect, most of us would agree this is true. It\u2019s a dirty truth that I\u2019m hoping the experience of recent weeks and coming times will help reverse.<\/p>\n

I know that I have put the phone down after what I think is a terrible referral and complained about my GP\/surgical\/A&E\/midwifery colleagues. I have to say, I do sometimes wonder what people think paediatricians can achieve. Being referred patients because \u201cthey won\u2019t take the medicine\u201d or \u201cI can\u2019t get them to do a wee\u201d will always bug me. I don\u2019t have magic powers to make children do things. But indeed an experienced parent\/nurse\/paediatrician knows a few ways to try. And I\u2019ve been the ST1 freaking out to my registrar about the same thing, before I\u2019ve realised that seniority and experience allows you to find a sensible way around pretty much everything. Damien Roland, a paediatric A&E consultant, has written an excellent blog<\/a> about how not to annoy a paediatric registrar.<\/p>\n

This aside though, I am uncomfortable, and yet complicit, in how easily we blame a colleague from another speciality because it\u2019s (for example) “typical anaesthetist behaviour.\u201d We often ignore our own belligerence or style of communication in the process.<\/p>\n

What I really enjoyed about today was chatting to colleagues who have the same ideas, concerns, and expectations as me every time they come to work, and want to do a good job in what are\u00a0often highly stressful conditions. I have to admit I\u2019ve never met a registrar or consultant who has said \u201cOh well, you see in our team we are annoying because we just don\u2019t care about our patients,\u201d but you wouldn\u2019t know that from the way we talk about “The Others.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, again, I tell myself that from now on, this lesson has to be remembered. I remember re-tweeting this article<\/a> a few months ago, when twitter was new to me, and it took a lot to make me say something. I\u2019m sure this story talks to us all<\/a> and the underlying message is one I\u2019m trying to reiterate here.<\/p>\n

My colleagues from a different speciality are friends in arms, allies I have yet to meet to fight whatever the battle in front of us may be: improving patient safety, a junior doctors strike or achieving excellent patient care. Today, when I go back to work, I will spread the real message of #oneprofession\u2014every day we\u2019re all on the same team, doing the best for our patients and each other, strike or no strike.<\/p>\n

Lizzie Wortley<\/span><\/strong> is a paediatric registrar working in Northwest London who is interested in quality improvement, acute care, and particularly enjoys debating the psychology of doctors and patients.<\/em><\/p>\n

Competing interests:<\/strong> None declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I came\u00a0off the picket line having enjoyed some lively conversations with my colleagues. As passing drivers honked their horns in support, one of my colleagues observed that it\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n

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