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After hearing the latest news of a german doctor called Dr Ubani I couldnt help but feel concerned and destressed about the position the NHS is finding itself in with the use of Locum consultants and agency staff.

Dr Ubani, travelled to the UK to work the ‘out of hours’ service, during his call out he wrongly treated the patient, which disasterously lead to the death of the victim. Dr Ubani gave a dangerous dosage of diamorphine to the patient, apparently a dosage that could only have been survived by somebody who was either a drug addict or someone used to a regular intake of painkillers. Within hours the victim had died.

Other concerns raised during this sad event included the language barrier between Dr Ubani and the patient, the unfamiliarisation that Dr Ubani had with diamorphine due to the limited use of the drug back in Germany where he typically practiced, the apparent neglect and almost dismissal of a perscription drug list of the patient before treating with diamorphine, the fact that Dr Ubani had only flown into the country the day before.

This in my eyes causes great concern for the NHS, we need better unity in training methods for oversea’s doctors, it is imperitive that these doctors undergo similar practice or the relevant training to ensure familiarisation with the NHS and its methods. It reminds me of a course that Medicology Ltd used to run that was to ensure correct training for implimenting doctors from overseas. In the light of all this are training regulations slipping?

Medicology Ltd hosted an EWTD (european working time directive) conference last year which described the risks that doctors can put themselves in through being over worked. But what about Dr Ubani, for him to only have flown in the day before his shift, tiredness, concentration, etc were these all factors that lead to his negative decision making or does the issue span greater than this? personally I beleive so. Is the issue the lack of training?, the conflict of different / european health systems and its practices?

Where does this leave us, more regulations? the big question over the implimentation of overseas doctors working out of hours services? the risk of mixing different health systems and practices?

For those who may be interested, Medicology Ltd offer very comprehensive training for doctors and medical staff of all grades broadly covering Leadership, Management and Personal Development skills, also including Clinical Governance and the ‘Modern NHS’, the current situation, how we work with it and progress with it as it continues to evolve…..

After doing Martial Arts for 8 years, it was only the pain I encountered last night that made me think….Would you be better taking the pain on the rare occassion you will get mugged, rather than the continuous pain you take during the 3 training sessions each week to make you ‘better off’ when you do get mugged?!

Sorry, but its only looking down at the continuous bruising on both arms that has just made me consider whether to take up an alternative hobbie next week.

I dont know if anybody can enlighten me behind the logic or may I add the ‘lack’ of logic behind crossing a road (risking your life) then waiting on the other side for the group you are with to also cross the road (safely)?!

Although this could turn into a disasterous situation I cant help but chuckle to myself when I see this happen!

Here’s the situation: a group of six friends walking along, having a nice chat about a night out or a movie etc, they approach the road, and naturally stop at the curb, still chatting away they have a look left and right and see the many cars speeding past on both sides of the road, one of the group may even press the button to turn the traffic lights to red and make sure that all the cars stop before crossing the road safely. Its during this process that one of the friends decides that they will make a suicidal leap to the other side of the road after already having stood with the group and assessed the traffic. Its at this point that you hear the car horns or see the brake lights appear on the vehicles, just at the point where you see the adrenaline junkie friend crawl up the other side of the pavement within a whisker’s space between his foot and the car bumper. The friend stands up proud (and releived) having made it successfully across to the other side of the road before the rest of his friends in the group. How proud he looks as he waits (with a smile) for his friends to cross. It leads me to the big question…….does he not realise that he has not saved any time at all? only frightened a few motorists, his patient friends and more imprtantly himself! will he learn?…….

Anybody fed up with driving in the snow yet, and trying to get places? I bet all those people who have not been able to get into work aren’t too fussed!

Anway, I’m car sharing at the moment with my partner who luckily works for the same company as I do, I sold my Rover 200 back in April when she started working with me and we decided to car share from that day on. Its been nearly a year and surprisingly it has been going rather well. I drive in the morning while she puts on her make-up for work and we share the driving on the way home.

Over the last couple of weeks the snow has been blanketing the country and driving in a different, smaller car (Volkswagen Lupo) has taken a little getting used to, luckily its front wheel drive so its managing ok on all of the snow and ice. The main problem is that we are running out of grit locally so the roads could get worse, you’ve got to feel sorry for the BMW drivers that are sliding about the place with their rear wheel drive cars. Although having said that they probably feel sorry for the Volkswagen Lupo drivers every other day of the year when it isnt snowing!

My girlfriend did buy me a mountain bike for my birthday back in July, I have really taken to this and the 15 mile return cycle to work and back got easier and actually more enjoyable each time! except with the weather being as it is I have to admit that the bike hasnt been out for a while so it will certainly be a shock to the system when the snow clears and I finally get back in the saddle!

I’m sure we have all heard stories of people neglecting the use sunbeds, but have you heard the latest about the possibility of introduing the law of under 18’s not being allowed to use sunbeds?

I recall a story of a girl aged 13 spending approximately 30 minutes and getting severely burnt in the process, who knows whether there is lasting damage to the young, imature skin or whether it is simply a case of a few days or possibly a weeks pain and discomfort from this stint on the sunbed. I actually remember another story where a young teenage girl used tanning oil to enhance the penetration on the UV Rays.

Can sunbed companies and suppliers really regulate sunbed use? how many stories have we heard that describe how young people are allowed to simply buy tokens, which equate to over the recommended time usage on the sunbed, how is this allowed? Can sunbed shops ID these people to check age or should they be prosecuted for encouraging over usage or enforcing the lack of regulations?

I can’t help but wonder what impact this will have on the NHS and the need for more dermatology departments or polyclinics (in the future), as people progressively damage their skin cells now and unfortunately suffer further down the line of life. The amount of money the NHS and Medical services will save if everybody stopped smoking, could we see a similar saving down the line if people reduced the usage of sunbeds?