Monthly Archives: October 2015

My last blog described the wording used by a doctor in communicating clinical information that was shared with a patient. I want to look differently at moth-eating. I don’t remember the last time I pulled a t-shirt of jumper out of dresser to discover a hole, a nibbled gap in the fabric. Moth-eating somehow makesContinue reading “Moth-eating (2)”

I remember reading a letter written by a hospital doctor to a patient’s GP, copying-in the patient. The individual had been experiencing problems with balance and the specialist had arranged an MRI scan – which is able to look in great detail at those parts of the brain controlling balance, movement, orientation, etc. What struckContinue reading “Moth-eaten fragments (1)”

Why am I so dead-set against patients? Yes, that is a funny position for a doctor, yet it isn’t that strange – I don’t know when the idea of ‘patient’ first started, but I am sure it was in a time before modern medicine, likely when doctors, or probably, shamans were prancing about in theContinue reading “People not patients #1”

The words we use when talking about patients somehow differ from those we use when discussing everyday matters or opinions. I’m not sure why. Is it that part of this is stripping away the person so that we are left with a disease, a pathology that is somehow depersonalized and easier for us to dealContinue reading “Demented, asthmatic”

What makes some groups succeed where others have failed? When equivalent teams, cohorts or communities are exposed to similar pressures, provided the same resources, training and education, outcomes vary, and, in some instances, certain groups can produce results that so far exceed those of peers that they become deviants. Skewed away from the average. WorkContinue reading “Positively deviant”

Fortunately nothing bad happened to me, in fact, the experience was wholly positive – I was in Macclesfield for a course on Mindfulness and Leadership run by the King’s Fund (yes, the same one as the tiger). Our instructor, Byron Lee described a fascinating aspect of Mindfulness that I had somehow managed to miss whileContinue reading “I learned a little about suffering this week…”

Into a soul absolutely free From thoughts and emotion, Even the tiger finds no room To insert its fierce claws Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do. I spent two days this week on the King’s Fund Compassionate Leadership through Mindfulness Course in Macclesfield. During that time, I had the opportunity to meet some great peopleContinue reading “Into a soul absolutely free, from thoughts and emotion.”

Today, I heard about a system in Scotland to help people refer themselves to their local memory clinic. In England and probably all of the world beyond Perthshire, the system is that people wait until their memory, emotional or cognitive decline has deteriorated to an extent that they can no longer ignore or avoid theContinue reading “Person-centred care & Perthshire”

In the rapid-paced landscape of a hospital ward, multitudes rush hither and tither doing their best to provide great care or treatment. Hierarchies, built upon historical, organisational and traditional structures dominate. Usually, the doctors are on top. If someone isn’t going to wash their hands or apply the alcohol gel, you can bet, it is usuallyContinue reading “We don’t talk… any more”