“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” I was taught to say this at school if called a...
Education
Redefining the hero narrative
“Show me your teeth!” It was not a request, but an order. Standing...
Recalling genuine kindness
“Do you mind if I sit here?” I looked up and saw a woman in her late 40s carrying a tray of lunch. Yes, I wanted to...
Remembering what we believe in
"Assumptions!" declared a voice. I looked up to find a tall man in a cassock and dog collar, clutching a bible to his breast. “It’s all about assumptions,” he repeated, looking triumphant. Assumptions, I wondered. Was that a book of the bible I had somehow missed in...
Recognising the smoke screens that help us get closer
I met ‘Aunt Es’ when I was 18. I had heard all about her from my Dad. She had introduced him to the Lake District and to Swallows and Amazons, which he read to me the long, hot summer of 1976 when I broke my arm, aged 8. My dad adored his ‘Aunt Es’ who was not his...
Repackaging our greatest skills – for each other.
For the thirteenth year running I have been involved in an induction programme for surgical trainees starting their careers, post foundation training. As I scanned the computer screen (yes, it happened virtually this year as the last thing we wanted was to take...
Realigning our priorities
Five people, strangers, met one sunny Friday in early September. They had not met previously, but had come together with one sole purpose in mind – to create. Standing around in an airy workshop, stuffed to the rafters with material, tools, objects and knick knacks,...
Relinquishing our obsession with technology.
A recent piece in the BMJ Opinion on 4 May highlighted the concept of “Covid Fatigue” among both patient facing hospital staff and those behind the scenes using technology to continue working. Where the former are tired, weary, irritable and disoriented, sometimes not...
Reinforcing the need for creative compassion
It was Christmas Eve when they came in, cold, a few snow flurries. He had been on the floor for several days after his fall, and she, as old as her husband, but suffering from dementia, was confused and upset. She had managed to put a blanket over him and a pillow...
Recognising what we do
In all the tweets and diaries and newspaper pieces I read from doctors and nurses in the lead up to the onslaught of the Covid 19 pandemic, one theme permeated the fear and anxiety. Not becoming ill. Not dying. Not even losing loved ones, but the fear of...
Re defining a professional approach
“This is the best course I have ever done.” “You have transformed the way I see education and the world.” “I have never met anyone like you.You are a true inspiration.” What do you say when you are told this? The first time I was flattered, tried to share the...
Rewriting: the rules for feedback
I couldn’t work out if she was shy, or just did not want to be there. But this was a course people were invited onto, with prestige attached, and paid for. If she had not wanted to do it, why had she not just pleaded a hectic schedule and declined? I tried harder,...