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5 things
This week is Dying Matters Awareness Week 2012, the theme of which is “small actions, big difference”. As part of the campaign, people are being encouraged to take small actions which include: helping...
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Health, wealth and the centenarian
Recently I treated and discharged a 101 year old gentleman. Back to his own home. And not a care package in sight. As a hospital physician I rarely meet this group of older people, living full and...
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How to die: CPR and the concept of futility
I recently cared for Ernest,* an 87 year old gentleman who spent around two weeks on my ward. Prior to admission his health was poor. He was bed-bound due to the late stages of a degenerative...
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Life in my shoes
On a recent set of on call shifts I met James,* who my team treated for pulmonary emboli. He was a lovely man; visits to check he was on enough oxygen to maintain his saturations and to assess his...
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When the lights go out
Most people I know have never watched a person die. Even those that have been to funerals and therefore have seen and been in physical proximity to a body, have rarely been present at the moment of...
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A scarf, a suicide and a sense of perspective
I went out last night. It was cold, and just before I left the house I picked up my favourite scarf from the hat-stand. It’s my favourite for many reasons but predominantly because Miriam, who gave it...
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The human touch
I recently took a group of medical students to see Mrs Cole*. She was 88 and was in hospital due to a severe exacerbation of COPD. She was kind enough to let us talk to her and listen to her lungs,...
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What’s in a name?
At work recently I felt like a broken record. “What’s their name?” I said again and again with increasing frustration as I received calls about patients who were referred to as “bed 3,” “side room 1,”...
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Can we find the spirit of ’45 in 2013?
Today marks a defining moment in the history of Britain, but looking around you wouldn’t believe it. Today, April 1st 2013, sees the The Health and Social Care Act (HSCA) come into force. The death...
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An invitation to An Evening with Death
Where do you want to die? How do you want to be remembered? What is it like to be present when someone dies? Death is a subject that it is often difficult to talk about, but is something we all have in...
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The LCP is dead: long live the LCP
Last weekend I was on call in hospital and cared for George,* a patient who was entering the last stages of life. George was no longer conscious so the Consultant and I spoke to his family, discussing...
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Those who go; those who stay
A large proportion of my life is spent within the walls of the hospitals of North East London. But when I’m not at work, I can often be found in one of London’s fantastic art galleries. Art is...
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Lonely this Christmas
I love Christmas. But I occasionally find myself in a moment of loneliness in the midst of all the crowds and music and noise. When I see pictures of friends with their newborns, home just in time for...
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Parallel lives
I am immeasurably proud of the NHS: the most successful model of healthcare the world has ever seen. If anyone within my earshot suggests that privatisation would be a step forward they rapidly regret...
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Would I lie to you?
Most days at work pass in a blur of clinics, referrals, ward rounds, meetings, emails and phone calls. But work as a doctor is more than tasks. It requires a repeated, brutal confrontation with the...
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Critical care
I was one of the lucky ones this year and was not working on Christmas Day. After my shift on Christmas Eve I fed the cat, packed up the car with presents and headed to my brother’s house. Waiting for...
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Living loss
I got to know Joseph * over a number of months. He was first admitted to hospital in April, when his bed overlooked the garden with trees in bud. As Spring turned to Summer he was readmitted, and when...
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Finding the words
Making and documenting good decisions about CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and treatment escalation plans, that are truly shared decisions, is a challenge. I find that the challenge comes from a...
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An ever deferred death
“…just as we know our walking to be only a constantly prevented falling, so is the life of our body only a constantly prevented dying, an ever deferred death.” Schopenhauer I first read these words...
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More doctors should engage with arts and health
An article I co-wrote “More doctors should engage with arts in health” was recently published in BMJ careers. A longer version is below. Many healthcare professionals are interested in the arts, as...
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