Best quote of the day: The forest was shrinking, but the trees continued to vote for the axe. For the axe was clever and convinced the trees that, because its handle was made of wood, it was one of them.

Okay, this is quite outstanding from Bedford Council.

Thursday university of Essex staff will be taking to the picket lines to say no to cuts, no to job losses and no to the closure of the Southend campus. @jeremycorbyn.bsky.social stands with staff, students and @unison.org.uk as we fight together.

University of Essex putting up a big new billboard in Clacton ('Your Local University') to attract students after closing their Southend campus, ruining young Southenders' plans, and putting 400 staff up for redundancy seems like a bit of a poor taste pisstake somehow, I don't know.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

Alex from our time working together, while he was in nursing school. Later, he moved to ICU, working as a nurse to support critically ill Veterans. He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now

If Trump was my relative I’d be pushing for an urgent referral for a capacity assessment. Only he’s not he’s the man with the nuclear codes

Spray paint a plane and they'll detain you without trial and call you a terrorist. Kidnap a foreign head of state - and Keir Starmer will make it clear we've played no part in it but will wait for the scheduled press conference in a few hours before potentially condemning it

Essex students found out their campus was closing from a link in a WhatsApp chat. 800 students uprooted. 400 jobs cut. One university in crisis. Students and staff deserve better. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

400 redundancies at the University of Essex, of which 200 will be academics. A bloodbath drawn out over the next few months. Grim.

Our nursing students face a five hour round trip to their new campus. Students from marginalised backgrounds who are already struggling www.timeshighereducation.com/news/essex-c...

It’s hard to read this without thinking about nursing in the UK. When universities slip into “survival mode” for nursing this means cutting back on staff time, pastoral support, digital infrastructure, equipment, learning spaces and genuine partnership with students, engagement inevitably drops.

“Understanding the distinct experiences of diverse groups of students (e.g. apprentices, online learners and commuter students) is of critical importance” wonkhe.com/blogs/studen...

NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores the hidden depths of the higher education iceberg - from misperceptions about value to the quiet crisis of overstretched resources and shrinking provision buff.ly/3Y2U9aj

Some great advice for university leaders at all levels in this article. Listening to staff is always a good start!

MAYBE DON’T EMAIL ME AT THE WEEKEND, THEN.

As it ever was 🙄

When I’m Empress Of All I Survey I will be recommending short to medium prison sentences for the inappropriate use of the word ‘Iconic’

The NHS needs more #blooddonors and it’s on amber alert. So you check out where you can go and donate…Except you’re in a 23 min queue to even access where the available appointments are

Care home investors rake in billions from pensioners 96% of elderly care privatised. Private equity moving in. Focus on short-term profits, cut wages/staff, low investment, poor care. 27% price hike. £1.5bn taken by shareholders. Need integrated healthcare, not sharks. archive.ph/0HR8Y

I had assumed that vocational degrees like nursing would have some protection as they are critical to NHS delivery and planning. The funding crisis in HE thinks otherwise.

Just preparing my session on what to expect in placement for new students. Having to add a slide to my PowerPoint on corridor care/escalation spaces was something I never imagined I’d need to do

Fascinating read. Lots of lessons about leaders who operate within echo chambers and dismiss instead of debating opposing views

It appears that 2025 problems cannot now be dismissed 😬

The white van outside my house seems to be hosting a remarkably civil dialogue…

Lovely to have family stay over the festive period and everything but one of them just walked past me while I was on the floor doing some yoga and wondered if I’d had a fall. 🙄

The space between Christmas and New Year (which we call the festive perineum) is like floating through space where everything can be filed under “A 2025 Problem”

I know they’re evil and everything but I REALLY need a Norbot #WallaceAndGromit

This 👇🏻👇🏻

Would it be considered rude to receive Christmas guests whilst in bed due to this never ending cold virus?

It would be inadvisable to operate machinery after a slice of my Christmas cake

Also applies to nurse academics in HE www.bmj.com/content/387/...

Hearing descriptions of corridor care not just in the ED but now on wards for older people locally. We’ve normalised something that would have horrified us less than 5 years ago.

Today I am half woman half Strepsil with mild Benylin dependency issues

Am I the only one to see a contradiction between a NHS overwhelmed with respiratory infections and JCVI’s decision (based on their “bespoke” economic evaluation) to recommend very limited eligibility for COVID vaccines? #FalseEconomy

I love the Saturday supplements suggesting ‘stocking fillers’ at a price that would suggest it isn’t normal to have one with an apple/satsuma/choc coins and all the tat a Poundstretcher had to offer

In my FB timeline a clinical colleague of a similar vintage has told us that her joint replacement surgery in the hospital she worked in for 30 years has been cancelled for the third time (this last time 30 mins before) and the replies are just a stream of old broken nurses saying ‘Yep me too’

If there is a purgatory and I need to atone for my sins it will largely be me visiting anyone I knew or cared for over the age of 60 and apologising profusely for making all sorts of assumptions.

Seems appropriate to remind ourselves

I’m 63 today and this is what I got for my Birthday 🙄