Action for NHS Wellbeing member and social worker Mike Bush in the latest issue of Community Care (Feb 9th 2015) describes how failures in care are inextricably linked, amongst other things to impossible workloads, expectations, party political system interference and sheer exhaustion. “The health of our nation depends upon many factors, but none more important… Read More »
A reflection on medical student attitudes by second year Leicester graduate Olivia Phillips.
This reflection on current medical student attitudes is attributed to a named individual who is not related to the Anon family. At the very beginning of her medical career, Olivia says: “ I am more than happy to share what I wrote and I am happy to be named. I am keen to avoid the… Read More »
Bad Science and Good Mental Health
Bad Science and Good Mental Health: Guest Blogger Martin Seager, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Adult Psychotherapist summarises his paper. In writing my paper “Bad Science and Good Mental Health”, based on two presentations that I did for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), I wanted to go beyond the usual limp critique of… Read More »
Health Service Journal highlights psychological trauma and suicides amongst NHS workforce
The Health Service Journal (HSJ) – 8th August 2014 highlights the psychological trauma that patient safety incidents and investigations have on many of the clinicians involved. Dr Rajan Madhok, a public health doctor and director at the NHS Clinical Leaders Network, together with a number of colleagues surveyed all nine UK-wide professionals regulators, covering all… Read More »
GP Training Applications fall by 15%
A report by the General Medical Council has disclosed that GP training applications have fallen by 15% this year, with many doctors voting with their feet. The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK 2014 reveals that the number of applications dropped from 6031 in 2013 to 5100 in 2014 with “considerable variation… Read More »
RCGP Conference 2014 Report
The 2014 Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Conference in Liverpool was attended by some 1700 delegates – Drs Alastair Dobbin and Chris Manning included. In a full session enthusiastically chaired by College Vice-President, Professor Amanda Howe – both managed (with 20 minutes to share between them!) to share some of the nuggets relating to… Read More »
GMC Independent Review of Doctors Deaths
The General Medical Council (GMC) describes its role as a charity as follows: “The GMC is the independent regulator of the UK’s 250,000 doctors. Our job is to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine. We do this by managing entry to… Read More »
Suicide in Doctors
Suicide in Doctors: those who care for the lives of others also end their own.. A recent article in the New York Times by Pranay Sinha, a physician in his first year of residency in the department of internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital describes how a few weeks ago in mid-August, two medical residents… Read More »
Universal Psychological Needs
Our universal psychological needs need to be met if we are to thrive says Guest Blogger and Senior Clinical Psychologist Martin Seager. Meeting the universal needs of the human condition is as fundamental to our thriving as the laws of aerodynamics to aircraft staying up in the air and the laws of thermodynamics to the… Read More »
Mindfulness: Hope or Hype?
Mindfulness is the current “new kid on the block”; Guest Blogger and Senior Clinical Psychologist Martin Seager sounds a few notes of caution. Mindfulness is not new – it’s a western branding and techniquification of some eastern religious ideas and pan-religious spiritual concepts that are ancient: it is a fashion, a gimmick and a bandwagon.… Read More »