I read the news today, oh boy...

Another GP bashing in the Daily Mail. The DOH are trying to claw back the money that they have given to GPs in the new contract, they want to cap it. I hear MPs want a pay rise to bring their basic salary in line with that of a GP, but they get as much again in their expenses, so they already earn enough. I suppose they are providing some kind of 'public service' by taking our taxes and wasting them on war. I don't know many other businesses where there are caps on salaries, do they do this in the city? (they might do, I don't know). And why should we work out of the hours of 8 to 6? There is OOH cover in place, so there is no responsibility to open for longer hours. Hospital doctors work those hours. If you are ill enough to need the doctor maybe you can take some time off work to go. I wouldn't mind working until 8 one day or so a week though. Anyhow, the government are ensuring this will happen by taking money away if it doesn't. It is annoying that GPs are persistently painted in a money-grabbing & lazy light when this is plainly not true in almost all cases. Enough politics.

Wanted: more blood for The Machine

I have just finished my last night shift for a year, the last one that I'll ever have to do. It feels good, but the euphoria is blunted a little. One of the hospitals around here was in the news, I think that it was more for the nurses than the doctors, they want staff to take 6 months unpaid annual leave and to work just one extra day on a voluntary basis with no pay. I found it difficult to believe. Let a few of the middle managers go and that would make up the shortfall. I would like to know how many shifts I have already worked for free in the extra half hour here and there when there are sickies on the wards. They don't have any f**king idea do they?

I'm glad that I'm finishing hospital medicine, and I've only been in it for 4 years. I think I can do more to help people in general practice than battle The Machine.

BA cabin crew have got the right idea but I hope they're not on strike on the 24 Feb.

Daysleeper

I always think of that REM song when I'm on nights, dream of circadian rhythm...

I don't know what's up with the date on the previous post, it was supposed to be last week sometime. Today it's just turned 23rd of Jan, so I just finished my last weekend in hospital medicine and now I'm on a set of 4 nights. Isn't that a nice bit of rota to end this job on? It's my fault in fact, I was meant to do the weekend before but I swapped to go on holiday.

Now I'm beginning to think I'll miss the excitement and social life of hospital medicine. But I won't miss being here at 2am waiting for patients to arrive from A+E. Why did I ever doubt I would enjoy GP?

How we operate

The time is near, I thought it would never come, tomorrow I will start my last weekend working in hospital. The week after, I will do my 4 last nights in hospital. After this, I will not have to check if I am on call when someone invites me somewhere in the evening or at the weekend, there will be no more checking the rota, there will be no rota.

No rota.

This leaves me with a feeling of freedom, and regret (surpirisingly). What is out there outside the protective walls of the hospital, beyond the neon light of the ward and the reassuring registrar on call? I'm soon to find out and the grass might not be greener, but whatever, it'll be fine, I don't have to check the rota. No more swaps to make a holiday of any decent length, and no more paying for it when I get back with weeks and weeks of oncall. I can't wait to go to BsAs in February for 3 weeks, bring it on. But, everyone else in the NHS has also reached this conclusion and soon the GP jobs will be saturated, and what will I do then?