Blog 55 An arrogant doctor comes a cropper
January 18, 2021‘Hello; you’re through to the Middleton Hospital, good morning.’ If Sarah had said that once, she had said it ten thousand times. She had been the senior telephonist at the hospital for many years. It was a job she loved, and she prided herself on her efficiency. ‘Get me Davies, will you,’ instructed the caller. […] Read more
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Blog 54 Quiz and a short story
January 1, 2021Name the meals These are all popular meals, the clues are given as the initial letter together with the number of letters in the word. Example S5 A3 K6 P3 would be Steak and Kidney Pie T4 I 2 T3 H4 I 5 S4 B5 B5 O2 T5 C3 A2 V3 C7 P6 (though some […] Read more
Blog 53 Christmas Day in Hospital 60 years ago
December 16, 2020For those of us who lived in the hospital as young doctors and nurses in the 60s and 70s, Christmas Day was a memorable experience thanks to the great efforts made by the staff to create a cheerful atmosphere for those unfortunate enough to be ill and away from home at this special time. On […] Read more
Blog 52 An amputated leg regrows
December 2, 2020Jim was convalescing in a well known London hospital after an emergency operation to repair a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. The major artery that carries all the blood to the lower half of his body, a motorway of a vessel half an inch wide, had suffered a ‘blow out’ such as may occur on a […] Read more
Blog 51 Hospital management tricks
November 16, 2020‘Too many chiefs and not enough Indians’ has been a common criticism of the Health Service for many years. Certainly, those at the coalface, if I may be allowed to mix my metaphors, frequently complain that there are too many managers and insufficient doctors, nurses, and paramedics, a theme that has frequently been picked up in […] Read more
Blog 50 Carlos from Catalonia struggles to learn English
October 21, 2020Scene: A ‘Learn English’ class in London. Teacher: ‘Where would you go to post a letter?’ Carlos: ‘I go to post box in High Street.’ Teacher: ‘That’s right; you would go to the post box in the High Street. And where would you go to borrow a book? Carlos: ‘I go to library or see my […] Read more
Blog 49 University professor gives medical consultant a lesson in good manners
September 22, 2020The next patient’s problem was apparent to anyone with a sensitive nose, long before the team arrived at his bedside. The smell was that of a putrid decomposing, animal carcase. Powerful and offensive, the odour drifted freely down the ward, undiminished by the deoderant that had been placed on the bedside locker. It was the […] Read more
Blog 48 Medical Emergency at the Music Festival
July 1, 2020The weather forecast was for fine, sunny weather so I set off for a walk that included a small hill. It was on the way down that I came a cropper. Perhaps I simply wasn’t looking where I was going, but one minute I was strolling along without a care in the world, the next […] Read more
Blog 47 The 1968 duty rota. Do consultants still behave like this today?
June 14, 2020I applied for a post as a junior doctor for a newly appointed consultant physician and was fortunate to be appointed. The day after I started, I met another, more senior consultant, on the corridor. ‘I understand that you are now on the on-call rota,’ he said, pleasantly enough. ‘Yes, Sir, I am,’ I replied […] Read more
Blog 46 The Doctor and the Car Mechanic
May 26, 2020Brian was in his fifties and recovering from a heart attack but he also had mitral valve disease and was an ideal patient for teaching students. He enjoyed being the subject and the centre of attention. I introduced him to a group of undergraduate students and took them through the basics of history taking before […] Read more
