Delaying the Inevitable

It’s not well-known, but Stevi e Wonder is superstitious. Very  in fact. The writing’s on the wall , to be honest . He’s  a nightmare to work with  - the recording studio is always full of rabbits’ feet ,  he won’t work on Friday the 13th, and he once almost blinded a backing singer by throwing salt over his shoulder.   But why do seemingly rational people  believe such irrational things? “Magical thinking” is defined as the belief that an object, action or circumstance not logically related to a course of events can influence its outcome. For example, examining the pattern of tea leaves in a cup cannot (given what we know about the principle of causal relations) logically predict the future. I’ll stick to  astrology , thank you very much.   There’s numerous examples of magical thinking -  whether it’s  ‘black cats’,  ‘lucky’ mascots,  ‘walking under ladders’, ‘breaking mirrors’, ‘homeopathy’, ‘organised religion’ or ‘string’ t...

A few weeks ago, it was our 10 year medical school reunion. Many of us have gone our separate ways: to alternative careers or alternative counties. The majority, though, have remained in the NHS. To many of us, the NHS is like a cantankerous relative that always gets drunk at weddings. However difficult they might be, for all their faults, you love them and would miss them if they weren’t there. But what are the faults with the National Health Service, and is there anything we could do about them? It’s not National Over the years, the NHS has gone through more “responsible bodies” than Dr. Who. To get an idea of the current structure, imagine the most complicated Powerpoint slide you’ve ever seen, and then ask MC Esher to paint it. The picture below might help, but don’t spend too long on it, as it will have changed some more before you get to the end. Every few years someone comes up with more corporate doublespeak – be it “Vanguards”, “Clinical Senates” or...