So there we were, early Wednesday afternoon, preparations under way for the evening surgeries, when the phones started to ring off the hook. Almost simultaneously we got an email from the PCT telling us that 143 children from the local primary and infant schools were sick with an as yet unidentified viral illness. Some were […]
Tag: Blog
Boats, BBQs, and insect bites: the seductive power of warm nights in a cold climate
The inhabitants of the British Isles, along with much of Europe, are currently basking in glorious weather. Warm, sunny, BBQ-inspiring, smile-evoking, relaxation-inducing, glorious weather. The kind of weather that leads lesser mortals like me to even share guilty jokes about not everything about global warming being bad. […]
Sick doctors, sick notes, and swine flu: why coroner’s reports are so yesterday
A couple of weeks ago a doctor friend from California was visiting me in London. Shortly before her arrival date swine flu fever was gripping the world’s media, with California proving a hotbed for new cases. And, illogically I’ll admit, I felt a certain disquiet that a doctor from the first US State to suffer […]
“Doctor, I’m normal. Can you help?”
Yes, I know patients don’t actually complain of being normal, but isn’t there sometimes a not so small voice in your head telling you that this is, effectively, what’s happening? Why, you wonder, is this person surprised that if they continue to wear tight shoes their corns will keep returning? And why, oh why, do […]
Tense, nervous headache? How COPE can help you cope.
So how are you coping? Are you managing to make the right choices in these difficult times? And what if you make the wrong decision? Do you worry you might be sued, or worse still that the care people receive will suffer? And no, I’m not talking about the stresses and strains of clinical practice, […]
Falling in love again: an artsy doc’s guide to surviving the recession
This Christmas I received a very special present from my husband. After 23 years I guess he knows a thing or two about how to get me excited and he knows just the man to do it. He also knew, as we must all surely know by now, that this was an austerity Christmas. […]
Wanted: 90 year old patient to look after ailing doctor
I’ve been ill. For two whole days. Horribly, gut wrenchingly, toilet bowl huggingly, head piercingly ill. For two whole days. So now I know what my patient felt like, right? The one who ‘gave’ this to me a few days ago when I visited her at home. The one who, in her 90th year, whilst […]
Manners maketh the doctor
The other day I made a call to our local hospital to ask a colleague to see a patient of mine as a matter of urgency. I asked the switchboard operator to page the relevant on-call registrar who duly appeared on the other end of the line. Using “hello?” as his tense, inpatient, opening gambit […]
When is dementia not dementia: a lesson in listening
In the last few weeks, working as a GP, it seems like I’ve seen more pneumonia and bronchitis than at any time in the last 20 years. As a practice, we’ve also had a number of our elderly patients admitted as emergencies, sometimes after seeing one of us and sometimes when they’ve sought hospital care […]
Henderson’s Equation: embracing science, facilitating human flourishing
I’m fond of referring, in talks and in discussions about medical professionalism, to the midnight meal. It’s a metaphor that I borrow from Dr Jerome Lowenstein, a friend and colleague who wrote an essay of the same name. In that essay he recalls a time when the medical team would meet in the hospital restaurant, […]