2018-01-19 17:06
Above is a response from the Department of Health (DH) to my MP, Layla Moran who very kindly sent them a question about pre-conditions to negotiation of the junior doctor contract. The… Read More
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The Ferret Fancier Blog
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the rantings and musings of an angry junior doctor working in the NHS.
2018-01-18 12:49
There's no doubt that some of the most used cliches are so widely used for a reason, probably relating to them holding a fair bit of the truth fluid. I think the cliche along the lines… Read More
2017-08-18 17:47
So the Shape of Training Steering Group have published their final report and I think it's fair to say it's a massive improvement on Professor Greenaway's disastrous first draft. My su… Read More
2017-07-18 13:51
I've been reading Rachel Clarke's book over the last few evenings and this is what has inspired me to ramble on the blog today. The mixture of humanity, sharp analysis and reasoned arg… Read More
2017-04-14 10:50
The BMJ does publish some very insightful work at times, I particularly enjoyed Iona Heath's recent piece on 'conflicts of interest within England's NHS':
"Although definitions and guidanc… Read More
2017-03-13 13:28
I read the latest edition of JTO with interest and noted the comments
from the Editor regarding 'physician associates', as well as the feature by
Anandu Nanu. Certainly it is possible… Read More
2016-10-12 08:54
Much has been said about the HSJ roundtable discussion last week, indeed the HSJ's piece relating to this discussion is due in the next few days. So I hear you asking, why am I asking… Read More
2016-10-05 10:02
First to set the scene, after years of failed negotiation
the government has encouraged NHS Trusts to impose a new contract of employment
upon junior doctors despite it being rejected by a m… Read More
2016-06-09 08:49
This post may be unpleasant reading for some of you but frankly it needs to be said given the way some of the 'debate' is heading. Firstly I'm not going to spin cheap sound bites and pr… Read More
2016-03-23 18:38
Background
The government is currently in the process of unilaterally
imposing a contract on the junior doctors of England. The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish
government have de… Read More
2016-02-14 09:13
The government are on the run, the NHS is struggling and they are being exposed as dishonest and incompetent on multiple fronts. The government recently breached the 18 week target for the f… Read More
2016-01-06 12:41
2016-01-04 19:23
Dear Jeremy Hunt,
&nb&hell…Read More
2015-11-28 09:59
Sadly despite our common goal of improving NHS care, talks
between our union, the BMA, and government broke down many months ago due for
reasons which have yet to become fully clear.
R… Read More
2015-11-08 09:55
Dear Mail Group
I am writing for several reasons, all under the same general
umbrella of admiration for your mighty journalistic tradition which invariably
serves the public interest abov… Read More
2015-11-07 09:49
Dear Health Education England
I am writing in response to the message sent by Jeremy Hunt,
the Secretary of State for Health, which was sent out to all junior doctors by
you on the 4/11/2… Read More
2015-07-24 17:36
This is the full response I have received from the DH:
"Our ref: DE00000948527
Dear Mr Dean, Thank you for your recent correspondence to the Department of Health ab… Read More
2015-07-18 14:18
Jeremy Hunt is not having a great day and my heart bleeds. Having attacked and denigrated NHS staff as he continues his campaign of destroying the NHS as a publicly delivered se… Read More
2015-07-06 18:52
Here is my response to the GMC consultations on 'credentialing' and 'generic professional capabilites':
"Dear GMC
As regards the two consultations:
Firstly as regards credenti… Read More
2015-06-28 15:49
"The GMC Media Team
The Media Team work with colleagues across the organisation to promote the work of the GMC; and they have direct relationships with a variety of journalists, fro… Read More
2015-05-17 07:50
"The independent Shape of Training review was established by the four governments of the UK and was supported by a number of organisations including Health Education England, The Medical Sch… Read More
2015-05-11 19:53
This week the BMJ published my opinion piece on the 'Shape of Training' review:
"The GMC spent more than £4000 on legal fees in resisting my freedom of information request. The court… Read More
2015-02-27 10:15
Anyone who reads this blog will be aware of the Shape of Training review, irrelevant of this I would strongly advise you have a glance at this excellent piece in the BMJ exposing seve… Read More
2015-02-05 15:52
So many straw man have been put forward in an attempt to justify the potentially disastrous 'Shape of Training' (ShOT) review's recommendations, that it is slightly tricky to know whe… Read More
2015-02-02 15:32
The Shape of Training was an 'independent' review of medical training chaired by an economist, Professor Greenaway, which reported at the end of 2013 is currently in the process of b… Read More
2015-01-30 11:54
The problems with the Shape of Training review of postgraduate medical training become more and more obvious by the day. Today the BMA has released a joint statement on Shape calling f… Read More
2015-01-09 11:34
Shape of Training has many disastrous regressive elements, not least the introduction of 'credentialing'. Note first of all that the GMC defines a credential as a 'formal accreditation… Read More
2015-01-08 21:01
The BMA have produced an excellent statement on the 'Shape of Training' review and a large number of trainee groups have rightly signed up to reject the review in its current dangerous form… Read More
2015-01-07 19:10
May those who were murdered in cold blood today in Paris rest in peace.
I hope some good can result from today's appalling crimes, in that decent rational people can unite against the misgu… Read More
2015-01-06 20:06
I have commissioned myself to review UK postgraduate medical training. The pre-review steps are complete, I am indeed a fit and proper person, I have 5 GCSEs, I have no conflicts of in… Read More
2015-01-05 14:53
I do not have all the answers, as I do not have all
the facts and I do not have the knowledge of a legal expert. However this piece is simply designed to
summarise some of the k… Read More
2015-01-04 19:27
It is interesting that the Spectator and the Daily Mail have both sided in rather stilted fashion with Mr Meirion Thomas, the surgeon who wrote articles for both of these publications, stran… Read More
2015-01-03 10:08
This is how the noble journalist Guy Adams responded when I made a perfectly reasonable comment on his ill informed piece on Mr Meirion Thomas. I would like to thank him for his kind r… Read More
2015-01-03 09:31
The Daily Mail has a long history of supporting some rather malevolent causes. Today their journalistic standards continue within the gutter of hypocritical bile that the seem to fondl… Read More
2015-01-01 16:01
The 'Prof' Meirion Thomas saga is complex and I shall not attempt to address all the details in this piece. For more detail simply use 'google' and read away. I am no fan of Mr M… Read More
2014-12-15 11:54
I’d be careful not to go off on the tangents about the sadistic medical narcissists of the 1970s or to blame “The Trendy Educationalists” for these policies. This is driven… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
I have made the following request to the GMC under the Freedom of Information act:
“Has the Chair of the review (Prof Greenaway) discussed the review with any ministers/civil servant… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
I read Professor Sir John Tooke’s recent editorial with great interest (1) and it is strange that he sees the Shape of Training review as a ‘broad consensus’ of opinion. P… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
The NHS is in crisis because the current government have wasted billions in yet more corrupt market based reforms which will enrich private firms at the expense of the tax payer. Sadly… Read More
2006-06-07 11:16
Firstly I do not agree with
Brian Jarman on many things but I have the utmost respect for his integrity as
a researcher and a human being. Therefore I have no doubt then when he… Read More
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