Category: medical

Why aren't people taking Covid seriously? Taking Covid Seriously – As a GP? People just aren’t taking Covid seriously…

It’s December 29th today. I’ve spent the entire Christmas period working as a doctor. I was on call overnight every day as an Out Of Hours GP, I saw patients face-to-face in night time emergency appointments, and I worked as a normal GP either side of the weekend.

Unmistakeably, over the last week, I’ve seen that people are not taking Covid seriously.

Half Marathon Chris

I’ve been steadily getting more interested in fitness, running, and healthy living. Over the last couple of years, I’ve lost a decent chunk of weight, and started running and cycling a lot more. I still sweat like a geriatric horse, unfortunately.

In the last 18 months I’ve completed my first Triathlon, my first 10K road race, and this weekend, my first Half Marathon…

What next? How we save the NHS.

The Government, and Jeremy Hunt, have imposed the new Junior Doctor contract.

In so doing, they continue to demonstrate their terrifying lack of respect for the commitment and intelligence of the 53,000 junior doctors who work for the NHS, not to mention the 377,000 nurses, 97,000 senior doctors and 74% of of the general public who seem to understand that if we lose significant numbers of juniors, the whole system will collapse…

So, what’s next? I’m not in charge of the BMA, but here’s my proposal…

‘Will I Be Able to See You Next Time?’

Or… “Why patients miss having a regular doctor, and how the new junior doctor contract risks making the situation worse.”

Despite being nearly thirty, married for nearly a decade, with two children, I am a “junior” doctor. Technically, I am a GP Registrar. It’s written on my door, and none of my patients understand what it means. I often get the joke “Does that mean you can marry us after you’ve listened to my chest?”.

Looking back at 2015

I’ve started to write this on December 30th, sitting on a train in Lincolnshire at 7:30am, on my way to work. It’s still completely dark outside, and half the country is still on holiday. I feel slightly jarred, like the alarm clock went off, but no one else has had to get up.

Feeling disjointed is somewhat appropriate – it aids my reflections on the last 12 months.