Hello!

I am an Emergency Medicine Consultant in the UK. The aim of this blog is to try and communicate useful learning points I have gleaned from treating patients with in the various ED’s I have had the fortune to work in. There is so much knowledge out there online to read thanks to #FOAMed. Most of the learning points in the posts have been handed down to me by people far more intelligent than I am!

People always say “don’t sweat the small stuff, concentrate on the bigger picture”. I say “Sweat the small stuff…”. This blog is about the importance of knowing as much as you can about every disease, equipment, processes and procedures you come across in everyday practice in the ED.

If one person reading the blog learns one thing that will help them in their clinical practice, then writing this blog has been worth it! Enjoy!

Follow me @bhanders

Sorry for imposing but EU see Bill, there are no Coincidences in Medicine

This post is really aimed at the non medical public. There is no point in reinventing the wheel. I came across a post on social media last night from my surgical consultant as a house officer. It summed up perfectly why not only the imposition but also the new junior doctor contract is unsafe for patients […]

“Don’t wait to strike when the iron is hot….make it hot by striking…”

It’s the day before the the first Doctors strike in the UK for over 40years…. I came across a post by a Surgical Consultant, whom I had the pleasure of being House Officer for. I remember being tired but loved my job. All the long hours and studying was worth it. It was worth it […]

“Stan, what’s the deal with negotiations…”

“Stan, If you don’t ask for what you want, don’t expect the Neurosurgeon, God or the Tooth Fairy (in that order) to do it for you…” Unfortunately no puntastic titles this time… I have had the fortune and privilege of working with doctors from different cultures and countries during my training in the NHS. The […]

“Stan, Why are you so SINEKal about Leadership?…”

An advertising friend of mine (Andy Cridland) and I, were having dinner the other day. We got talking about my post on the Eurostar and Giselle. I was talking about how advertising theories and behavioural economics can be related to medicine. He said “you need to watch Simon Sinek’s TED talk!…” So I did, and […]

#YesYes

Today’s post is pretty self explanatory. I am proud of the EM consultants & junior doctors I work with. Dear Junior Doctor Colleagues, The St George’s Hospital Emergency Department (ED) Consultants know how difficult and stressful the last few weeks must have been for you regarding the uncertainty of your future contract. Rest assured that […]

“There’s a storm coming, Mr Wayne…”

As Catwoman said to Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises: There has been a large backlash from UK junior doctors against Jeremy Hunt’s proposed changes to the #juniorcontract. What if this is a smokescreen for the proposed changes to the existing consultant contract? This is not like 2003, where a new contract was being proposed. […]

Stan, It’s time for the not the nine o’clock Bed Meeting….

A short & light hearted post today. A colleague of mine, Stan, (@wgbrook) sent me this the other day. It’s a sketch from a television comedy sketch show in the UK called “Not the nine o’clock news…”. The show aired from 1979 to 1982. The Hospital Bed Auction sketch is from Decemeber 1980 and starts […]

“Doctors make mistakes…Can we talk about that?…”

Close scrutiny will show that most ”crisis situations” are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are. (Maxwell Maltz) Perhaps the worst sentence in medicine: “Do you remember that patient you saw yesterday?…..” We all make mistakes, even the most eminent surgeons do, like Sanjay Gupta. Todays post took a while to publish. A dear […]

#iminworkjeremy

Today a short post as I have just finished a night shift as a resident ED consultant and am bleary eyed. However this is an issue I feel, like many others in the UK, particularly strongly about. “A patient has a 15% higher chance of dying if they are admitted to a hospital on a […]

A date with death

Originally posted on abrainia:
You may perhaps have noticed some stories in the media about weekend staffing in NHS hospitals. This was triggered when Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, announced his plans to forcibly alter Consultant contracts to enforce weekend working. In justification for these measures, he quoted some statistics, and made some additional statements.…

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