Yesterday @TraumaGasDoc posted an incredibly powerful story, Wrongfooted, of a sequence of events that culminated in operating on a patient’s wrong foot. It is a must-read and I pay tribute to him and his medical director for publishing it here. Clearly it struck a nerve and over 5,000 people visited the page within 24 hours. Read More...

Two (& a half) jobs: doing too much?

If you don’t already know, I’m a consultant surgeon and Medical Director of my trust. These are both important and potentially stressful roles but I love them both. One could make a case that both of these roles could and should be near full-time.
As part of the revalidation for doctors, Responsible Officers can’t be appraised internally. I have appraised six other Medical Directors/ROs. For each of them, having enough time to fulfil all their various duties was a very important and pressing issue, so I am not alone in finding time-management a problem. Read More...

As the NHS tries to move on from the Francis Report, there’s a danger it becomes focused on implementing the 290 recommendations. I can see every trust drafting action plans and enormous spreadsheets! A danger is that we miss the need for rebalancing the relationship between patients and the professionals.
As a Medical Director and Responsible Officer I recently was appraised in order to be revalidated. As part of this most doctors are required to present patient feedback. I used the forms on the GMC website for 30 patients attending my clinic. To be honest I didn't find it that helpful. Read More...

Robert Francis QC will be publishing his report on the morning of Wednesday 6th February. This hugely important report has been overly delayed and is both much anticipated and much needed. Its findings will have an enormous impact upon the NHS for years to come.
I sincerely hope that it has a dramatic and positive impact upon the NHS but I fear that it has an almost equal potential to be destructive. Read More...

Each year, all directors at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust spend time going “back to the floor”. Last year I spent a night shift with one of the most important doctors in the hospital: the medical registrar.
This year I chose to learn more about the practice and life of another crucial group of doctors: general practitioners. Indeed I have frequently heard Clare Gerada, Chair of the RCGP, telling the likes of Roy Lilley that he needed to come and see for himself what modern general practice is really like. Read More...