Delaying the Inevitable

There comes a point in most peoples’ lives when they realise that the dreams they had as children probably aren’t going to come true. I’m 34, with a wife, two kids and another one on the way and I’m starting to think I’ll never be a rock-star astronaut cowboy. I should’ve gone to rock-star astronaut school. Missed opportunities. But as you get older, the everyday concerns of life get in the way of your dreams. You work hard at school, work hard at college or university, work hard at work. All the time thinking it’ll get better. It’s like the end of the Shawshank Redemption, you’re Andy Dufresne, crawling through that pipe of shit towards a life of freedom. But when you get to the end of the pipe, you realise there’s another, and another, and another, until you can’t remember what it’s like to not be crawling on your hands and knees yearning for a different life. But by then it’s too late. You’re institutionalised. One of the pipe-people. Make the most of it. Raise a pipe-family. ...

The only health related things that seem to be increasing under this government are waiting times and blogs by angry healthcare workers. But with the prospect of further junior doctors strikes, I've written some advice for junior doctors, the public and Jeremy Hunt. (Not that he'll listen mind you, it's like shouting at pigeons in the park, but at least it gets it off my chest). For Junior Doctors: 1.        This is a contractual dispute. The intricacies of doctors’ rotas/banding system are about as interesting as the Galactic Council debate scenes in the first Star Wars films. Some managers don’t understand the system, and the government sure seems like it doesn’t, so keep messages simple: “We don’t currently have enough staff or funds to operate a 5 day service. Without increasing staffing or funding, stretching Junior Doctors more thinly over 7 days is unsafe” and “By the government’s own admission, this contract discriminates against women. T...