Are you a medical dr working in academia? Then this conference is for you! It’s a chance to ⭐️connect with other drs ⭐️find out about the work of @bma.org.uk and ⭐️shape policy 12th June; find out more & register www.bma.org.uk/events/medic...

Bloody hell I hate GCSEs They can get in the bin

This is both fascinating and true, I suspect. And explains so much about where we are a society at the moment as well

Love #eurovision Love even more that we came last and we still love it 💕🌈💕

Well known public health sub speciality, the old penile implant specialism

Actually. What do you call a plane full of GPs? 😂

Going to Belfast for GP conference of LMCs Half of the GPs from the SW appear to be on my plane. Hope no one needs medical assistance… 😂 @bma.org.uk

Bloody hell. Has everyone lost their minds? A) Local elections are always bad for the party in power B) better a boring but capable PM than almost all the other options C) a bit of stability would be welcome & D) not Streeting. Please.

It’s amazing watching the left rip Labour apart, whilst at the same time blaming them for letting Regorm take advantage. You guys create the narrative too. Honestly, if you can’t see your criticism is part of the problem, then we are all stuffed.

I recognise this. And I blame Cameron and Osborne for opening up Pandora’s box with such arrogance

Here’s my random take; I wonder if, when faced with parties of extreme (Reform), dull, plodding on in power (Labour); useless & chaotic ones (Tories) and general confusion (Green) The party of joyous water slides (the Lib Dems) might do quite well locally?

Eastenders sometimes does amazing storylines. Nigel’s story has been one of those; showing the impact of dementia, hard choices about care; and his death this week. The writers and actors have captured this so well, holding a dramatic mirror up to life & death that I regularly observe #eastenders

Top 15 Tv Shows Ever, by gut instinct Eastenders West wing Mad men Detectorists Yes minister/PM Star Trek tNG Dr Who Succession ER Cardiac arrest Downtown abbey Slow Horses The mandelorian HIGNFY House of cards (UK original) Oh and basically anything with David Attenborough, obviously.

It feels wrong that in the 21st century, a “small group of determined members” in the unelected second chamber killed off something that had passed in the Commons. I wonder if this’ll do significant damage to the future of the Lords?

The question was: Has Starmer lied. The Answer was: No The rest is media outrage that he didn’t lie.

So in a weird and complex political fight due to take place the first week of May in the UK ✋Labour may take the biggest hit, due in part to the Mandelson-gate scandal, all linked to Epstein ✋Reform may gain, with their much vaunted close ties with Trump (and are packed with ex-Tories) What now?

If you’re a BMA member, do send back your voting paper ASAP I *know* it’s horrible to fill in, (there are a lot of candidates and it’s a very long list) but honestly, it’s your chance to support democracy at a very real level 💕

Spent the weekend prepping up sections of the @bma.org.uk ARM agenda for discussion with the whole of the ARM agenda committee next week. My brain has gone a bit melty, but I still love working through all those amazing submissions! Yay for policy!

Just for the record I was born European Lived 45 years as a proud European And I hope we’ll rejoin in my lifetime. 🇪🇺🇬🇧🇪🇺🇬🇧🇪🇺

Here’s a thing. I rather like the fact that we’ve got a fairly competent government in the UK. Yes, they’ve got things wrong & reasonably quickly put them right. It’s frankly astounding how quickly we’ve developed collective amnesia over the chaotic last government Boring & sensible suits me fine

Today was spring re-opening day for the best gelato; Delphini’s in Totnes And do you know what? They gave away free ice cream for the afternoon! General joy broke out across the town. We were almost last in the queue and it was both joyous & tasty

Hear me out. Keep the State Visit, but send Princess Anne instead.

12 and 13yo girls are the bestest. Overheard in conversation, topics as wide ranging as why access to abortion is so important, the importance of dragons in fiction and their views on global politics Honestly, they probably should be running the world 🥰🥰🥰

Ballet really is the ultimate escape from reality - glorious music, astounding dance. So incredibly lucky that www.brb.org.uk comes to Plymouth 💕💕💕

Had a dream where I popped out to Trago Mills on my lunch break, then couldn’t find my way back to the car and was desperately upset about how late I was going to be starting afternoon clinic. Reminder note to self on waking; only risk Trago when I’m not in a hurry to get anywhere else.

Due to the way we display dates in Europe, Pi day here is 31st April. Which is why we dance round a maypole on that day.

So apparently, there’s loads of debate in “the other place” over who should get a seat on the BMA council. I don’t know whether to be relieved or worried that I’m not part of this (I stopped tweeting a while back), but honestly, if you’re a #BMA member, have a look at the papers and vote

Have we learnt nothing from Boaty McBoatface? 🫠 I’m looking at you, Bank of England. And in other views, yes, I’d vote for Bagpuss on a £50 note #banknotes

Right. Help #knitting I recently did a lovely bind off, where I worked something in one direction, then basically worked back in the opposite direction and sort of just lifted the stitches off?! I know; i should have made a note. But now have no idea what it was. Any ideas anyone?

Voting in by elections is fascinating - sometimes a protest, sometimes an endorsement; often grounded in local issues (after all, you’re not going to change the government of the day). What everyone really needs to think about is how to address the far right narrative & why it’s happening.

Listening to the news cycle today, as a parent-carer for SEND children is really exhausting and a bit scary. Sadly “change” doesn’t always mean “better” What would make things better in mainstream Smaller school sizes (500+ in a year should never be ok); less sausage factory approach; more empathy….

I’d put it differently. EBV is almost certainly necessary (but not sufficient) for MS. So prevent EBV and you prevent MS. But most people who get EBV (and most people do) never get MS. EBV puts the bullet in the chamber but things unknown pull the trigger.

In terms of what cures are being lost: - Epstein-Barr virus is perhaps the major trigger for multiple sclerosis - herpes simplex virus causes cold sores, genital herpes, infections in babies, deadly meningitis - shingles virus causes an intensely painful disease

Radio 4 news this afternoon repeatedly saying that police were searching the properties of an unidentified 72 year old man (but we all knew who).

I feel I might have been hallucinating this, but Reform have decided that subbing pubs is more important than lifting children out of poverty, didn’t they? Like, who the hell thought the average British voter would be so shallow? “let the children starve and make mine a pint!”

Why, for GCSE English literature, are 14 & 15 year olds *still* studying “an inspector calls”? Why are they stuck doing “a Christmas carol”? Where is the text that sparks joy in reading for a teenage boy? It’s like everyone has forgotten that literature shouldn’t be a punishment, but a pleasure

Love BlueSky trying to find me knitting posts. To be fair I also like crochet and spinning 🧶🧶🧶

Sometimes Radio4 is a delicious treat. Listening to @evanhd.bsky.social interviewing Reform’s Nadine Dorries yesterday on the way home from work was just *wonderful* radio. The joy of an expert, slow paced interviewer asking about loyalty to the much adored (by Nadine, anyway) Boris Ah, lovely.

I mean, it’s lovely they want to help, but 2 months later?!?

I’m not going to lie, from this headline I can’t work out if he was a US secret agent (and the treachery was to Russia) or vice versa. Or a double agent. I’m Not cut out for spy work, am I?

Oh god, lunch hour is over, isn’t it? Onwards and upwards

I’m a war time spy in an English seaside town. I mean, it could be worse.

There are American smarties… but they don’t have chocolate?!? You wot now? 🤯

There is something lovely about knowing that people you liked at work are still doing nice stuff even many years later when you haven’t seen them since you left. Sometimes social media is just lovely 🥰 @christinamaslen.bsky.social

Sometimes I get quite frustrated that the detail of actual policy is lost in media coverage. @darrenpjones.bsky.social interviewed yesterday on Today made me want to scream. Honestly, the focus on gossipy “black hole” nonsense is hard to break through. Ask him about the actual policies FGS. Arrggh.

Remind me again, is it 450,000 children who will be pulled out of poverty by the most recent budget? You mean like nearly half a million children who will have a more financially secure start to life? Seems like a bloody good move to me.

The BBC as a media institution is simply without parallel - including radio and the world service. I suspect it’s just as much part of our cultural heritage as that other British three letter acronym, the NHS. Recognise the flaws, sure, but fight for it to be improved, not destroyed. Irreplaceable

Arrggh. People are just exhausting sometimes, aren’t they? <sigh>

@crosscountryuk.bsky.social help! Can you help me reserve a seat travelling in first class from b’ham this evening?

Locum, salaried, portfolio GPs, now is the time to really engage… get signed up, get heard