There is more to being a doctor than medicine. The really big things that affect patient care are often political. Issues like the Health and Social Care Bill and the quest to find £20 billion in efficiency savings will have a huge impact on the service patients will receive in the next few years. There [...]
Archive for the ‘Education and training’ Category
Put up, or shut up
Monday, October 3rd, 2011Last week, I had the misfortune to be sent an article by Dr Martyn Lobley published in the Daily Mail, criticising young GPs. Carrying the headline, “They are very caring but young GPs can’t diagnose for toffee” it was filled with anecdotes about yesteryear and how the medical profession has declined since the golden days [...]
Deaneries saved, but for how long?
Monday, June 20th, 2011NHS reform has hit the headlines again this week as the Future Forum delivered its recommendations on the the Government’s NHS reform plans (and more importantly, Government responded with what they’re going to do). Less well reported was that they also gave their verdict on the reforms for medical education and training. In my speech [...]
Cowboy builders
Wednesday, June 1st, 2011Like a firm of cowboy builders, the government has been casually knocking down the structures of the NHS without any serious thought to the problems it causes elsewhere. Take medical education and training for example. It is like Lansley and Co scratched their heads following the plan to demolish Strategic Health Authorities, wondered how they [...]
The Medical Merry-Go-Round
Monday, April 18th, 2011Sometimes it feels as if medical recruitment is a merry-go-round of problems. The latest issue affects the medics among us who are hoping to move into ST3 from Core Medical Training (CMT). We all know friends who have failed, one or more, parts of the MRCP and many of us have wondered what the pass [...]
The NHS in stormy seas
Friday, January 28th, 2011The health reforms are big news – it is official. My barometer of when politics has got the attention of the wider public, my little sister, asked me what was happening to the NHS. The publication of the Health and Social Care Bill has made the changes to the NHS look very real. Doctors, nurses [...]
Workforce White Paper reads like an afterthought
Thursday, January 13th, 2011So, the future of our education and training is up for grabs once again. Another round of changes to the way junior doctors work and train is just around the corner thanks to the new education and training consultation. My biggest concern after reading the consultation is that this is a root and branch overhaul [...]
Echos of MTAS
Monday, December 6th, 2010When I heard the news that changes were being made to the recruitment process for specialty training posts, in the very week the process begins, my heart sank. Weighed down by the history of MTAS it is hard not to be consumed by a wave of pessimism about this year’s recruitment round. The quick guide [...]
A Foundation for Excellence?
Monday, November 8th, 2010Who remembers their very first on call as a fresh F1- the low-level panic throughout, sweaty palms, just waiting for something to go wrong? Who else recalls making the jump to F2 and being the only doctor on-site for your specialty? I recall a night I did as the surgical F2 when aside from a [...]
You’ve got to fight for your right to training
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010As the European Working Time Directive continues to bed in, the need for us to fight for our training opportunities has never been greater. One of the most effective ways to get better training opportunities is to get involved in the design of your rota so that you can make sure it covers your training [...]