So much of the UK’s steady decline post war can be explained by how easy it is for some people to fail upwards. Some spectacular examples with COVID and Brexit - often the same people in both. And easily identifiable by the frequency of their appearance on BBC Radio 4 Today programme

1/ How does the COVID Inquiry's Module 2 report align with what we said in @independentsage.bsky.social at the time? A 🧵on Transparency, Early & Decisive Action, Scientific Advice, Integration of Social & Economic Harms, Communication and Behavioural Science, Governance, Data and Preparedness

GPs up & down the country warned Wes Streeting, Department of Health and Social Care 6w ago that forcing the implementation of online forms without safeguards was a fools errand & raise false expectations Have now decided not to talk to @BMA_GP @doctor_katie @DavidGWrigley So here we are 🤷🏻‍♂️

If, like me, you lost a loved one in the UK’s deadly second COVID wave, this WhatsApp chat will confirm that the then government has blood on its hands.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE. For shame, Mr Johnson and the team you pretended to lead. Preventable deaths on your hands. They will not return to us. You live on, rich and vainglorious. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Women are watching abusive dynamics play out on the national stage and for many it feels very, very familiar to what they’ve experienced regularly— I hope midterms are a referendum

Can you see the problem 🤷🏻‍♂️ Wes Streeting can’t 🤦🏻‍♂️ 31million/month consult GP practices with similar number having haircuts 102,000 hairdressers in England with 40,000 salons 38,000 GPs with 6200 Surgeries On average people spend £400pa on hair GPs receive £169pa per patient

Wes Streeting accused of taking “chaotic and incoherent approach” to reforming NHS which makes it unlikely Govt will hit targets, according to damning @instituteforgovernment.org.uk Reforms are chaotic, poorly handled, risk worsening GP & social care pressures www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Warnings rise for U.S. as a severe flu strain causes outbreaks. A flu strain that emerged over the summer is causing unprecedented outbreaks in Japan, as well as in Canada and the U.K. The CDC hasn't provided insights on flu in the U.S. in nearly 2 months. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Finally!

On this day we remember them. We will never forget. #RemembranceSunday

This report was published 20 October 2022 This was the day Liz Truss announced her resignation Also the day General Practice was ignored & lost potentially forever publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cm...

GPs - ‘Lazy, laggards’ 1.3million appts take place in General Practice each day 20 x more than A&E 3.5 x more than hospital out-patients 5million more appts each month than 2019 Wes Streeting has decided he doesn’t need GPs Let’s see if people agree www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

‘Professional protectionism’ = patient protection It’s really important people understand why knowledge is needed in patient care Protecting a role eg Nurse/Dr is about protecting patients from harm You don’t know what you don’t know or understand what you have never been taught

You might have seen me using the #OneHealth hashtag often: this is why... A World Health Organization poster for today, November 3, One Health Day

GP Crisis is due to Top-Down management ~20% cuts in £/patient funding in 10yr ~Partnership future undermined ~NI hikes ~£ moved to Primary Care Networks ~GP roles cut from practices using ARRS More costly services being promoted by Govt/NHSE at the cost of patient care

Physican Assistant - Associate - Assistant Started as a good idea but was soon a very bad idea for patients when pushed by those who had no idea about safe medicine It’s time to make sure the Leng Review recommendations are implemented substack.com/@drstevetayl...

Racist incidents against UK nurses surge by 55% Royal College of Nursing calls on government to stop using anti-migrant rhetoric, which it says emboldens racist behaviour www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

The ‘manager’ is blaming the players, #NHS is ‘broken’ according to Wes Streeting But he has spent a year ‘breaking’ the teams who provide care for patients Waiting lists⬆️, A&E waits⬆️, GPs & Resident Drs in dispute, NHS leaders leaving, NHSE reform on pause

As a GP, I am not allowed to receive a pen or post-it note pad from a pharmaceutical company rep Govt banned them in case I was influenced to prescribe medications This should also be banned Influence being bought in Govt Patients should influence not the healthy & wealthy

This is madness - how can they justify yearly flu vaccination for all staff (and seriously encourage staff to have it with various deals) but then ignore the other infection that is hitting staff on regular basis? I hoped this madness would change with new government - sadly it has not.

‘Doctors have warned that the government’s decision to exclude health and social care workers from its covid vaccination programme is putting patients at risk and will have a major impact on an overstretched NHS.’ 🤦 Unbelievably shortsighted, based on what exactly! www.bmj.com/content/391/...

#NHS vs #TeamGP

If you're a physician working in England, share your insights to shape our submission to the government’s call for evidence on the 10 Year Workforce Plan. Have your say: ow.ly/g23550XatiH Submit your responses by 9am on Monday 20 October 2025.

Write to your MP: Save the future of general practice We have been increasingly concerned about the messages aimed at GPs from Wes Streeting, Stephen Kinnock & Department of Health They have said this is just a few BMA leaders It’s not pleas write here👇🏼 and share dauk.org/write-to-you...

I do hope BBC Panorama is working on this, with a proper deep dive into the associations+funding of Reform There’s so much talk of spying. Nathan Gill, close to leaders of a party that aspires to govern the country, has *admitted* working for Russian interests. What are the links btwn Russia+Reform?

WMA has adopted a landmark Statement on Artificial and Augmented Intelligence in Medical Care, outlining global ethical principles to guide the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Press Release: www.wma.net/news-post/wo... #MedicalEthics

Well done Shafaq Aftab. When a reviewer stole her work and published it under his own name, she fought for a YEAR to get the journal to retract the paper. Just wondering why it took Wiley a YEAR to do this. 🧪 #academicsky retractionwatch.com/2025/10/03/w...

After a long pause, I've just done another England Covid & NHS update as we head into the autumn/winter season. TLDR: we're in a significant Covid wave now, the NHS is stretched, get boosted if you're eligible. christinapagel.substack.com/p/england-is...

Helpful to explain what £169/patient/year pays for (this is £40 less than 2015 in real terms funding & only £123 is patient care) 380million appts in GP practices - half with GPs But there is more to General Practice than just appts @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social

July 24, 2024

Truly, these are the end times

Asking my hairdresser to provide unlimited haircuts for less than £3 a week, including online booking & an immediate response to emergency shave at 1min before closing That’s a NO😂😂 Meanwhile the GP practice - Wes says you must do all that & more

Pediatrician here. Please, please talk to your healthcare provider to get accurate info. Sadly, every single sentence in this statement is inaccurate & harmful. #medsky

Surveys show a mismatch between what tier most physician assistants think they can work at and what tier most doctors think they can work at. There is a mismatch between physician assistants and doctors in confidence and competence www.bmj.com/content/390/...

The mismatch between physician assistants and doctors in confidence and competence👇 www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1958

If a bus arrives at a stop already full & there is a queue of people what should the driver do ? To me it seems like the answer in GP land is to create more queues & ask the driver to open the door. And if that doesn’t work it’s the driver at fault? Misunderstood? @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social

Pubic ramus fractures see substantial variation in management. Tell us what you currently do by responding to our survey at: qmulbusiness.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... We'll use the insights to prepare future intervention studies. @katiesheehan.bsky.social @antonyjohansen.bsky.social

Our lawyers have applied to appeal the Judge's decision - because they think her decision was incorrect anaesthetistsunited.com/we-have-appl...

August over 3000 GPs completed their training There are currently only 250 job GP roles available across 6277 GP practices 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Patients have said GP access as the most important concern in #NHS provision @rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social but still minimal investment in access, just empty words

Whats the Govt intendung to do about the Leng Review? questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...

Wooo hoo Who’s got the UN by the short and curlies on sugar tax? #healthpolicy

WMA adopted a new Resolution calling on its members and national governments to stand firm and actively protect the ethical foundations of the medical profession. 📄 Discover the Resolution here: www.wma.net/policies-pos... #MedicalEthics #MedSky

Right into the subtitle hall of fame

The BMJ’s former editor in chief, Fiona Godlee, was arrested this weekend alongside over a dozen other healthcare workers at a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in London while holding a sign reading, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” www.bmj.com/content/390/...

Fiona Godlee (previous editor of the BMJ) being arrested yesterday for her support for Palestine. She is a good and brave woman with a record of being on the right side of history.

If you’re thinking about how to teach clinical reasoning better, or even a curriculum for your training programme, I really recommend this conference👇

So following a legal challenge from the @goodlawproject.bsky.social, the GMC had last year accepted its need to reconsider the decision not to investigate Aseem Malhotra, enemy of donuts. This was 17 months ago. Does anyone know where we are in that process?