Friday, January 30, 2009
Spooked hospital calls ghostbuster -
Spooked hospital calls ghostbuster - Yahoo! News UK: "ghostbuster"
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Hospital bosses face action over records scandal.
| By Marjory Inglis, health reporter THE UK'S data watchdog was demanding answers last night over the Strathmartine Hospital medical records scandal—and could take enforcement action against NHS Tayside. Bosses at the health authority were under fire again yesterday after confidential documents relating to individual patients were found strewn around the disused hospital. Several files were found including details relating to the adoption of a young girl giving her real name, address and date of birth and information relating to a baby born an alcoholic. NHS Tayside's chief executive Professor Tony Wells denied there had been any attempt to "mislead" the Scottish Government or the data watchdog. His comments came after Public Health Minister Shona Robison said she had received assurances from NHS Tayside that the documents had been cleared from the site when that was clearly not the case. Last night it emerged that a member of the public made a formal complaint about the situation to the Information Commissioner's Office and similar assurances were given there. Anybody who is concerned about a breach of the Data Protection Act, which governs the appropriate management and disposal of personal records, can complain to the commissioner. "The Information Commissioner's Office takes breaches of people's privacy very seriously and it is concerning if personal information, particularly sensitive information such as health records, has not been disposed of securely," Ken Macdonald, assistant commissioner at the ICO, said last night. "This is a key principle of the Data Protection Act. Following a complaint regarding the disposal of patient health records at the former Strathmartine Hospital in Dundee, we contacted NHS Tayside to establish further details. "Despite the ICO having received assurances that immediate action had been taken to remove the records from the building, this appears not to be the case. "We will be contacting NHS Tayside immediately to demand an explanation and, if necessary, we will use our enforcement powers." A spokesperson for the ICO last night said a breach of the Data Protection Act is not a criminal offence but, if a company or public body is required to meet the demands of an enforcement notice and fails to do so, the breach is a criminal offence and could lead to prosecution. Yesterday Professor Wells took charge of the renewed effort to clear sensitive information from the hospital, visiting it with specialists called in to do the job which, he said, would take weeks. Meanwhile, bin bags full of documents removed from the premises were being taken to a secure store until the appropriate way to deal with them had been ascertained. Prof Wells was adamant that he and his colleagues had not misled those making formal approaches regarding the documents. "Nobody has been trying to mislead anyone," he said. "I think we have acted in good faith and we are trying to investigate just how this situation arose." Yesterday, Scotland's director general for health Kevin Woods wrote to the chief executives of Scotland's 14 health boards drawing attention to the Strathmartine situation and seeking assurances that "obligations" with regard to the management, retention and disposal of medical records were being met. He emphasised that the buck stops with the chief executive of each health board. | |||
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The link between Obesity, Disease and Sleep
Report by Danna Schneider
There has been quite a bit of press lately about how sleep, the amount of it and the quality that you get on a regular basis, can affect more than just our moods and our alertness. Now there is gathering evidence that sleep may have a great impact on how much you weigh for a number of reasons.
So, if you think that getting your Z's wasn't affecting your health, then you definitely want to read on, because it could be affecting not only your weight, but also may have a serious impact on your longevity, and your predisposition toward everything from cancer to diabetes.
You may think that this supposition goes only one way. That is, that it's only the lack of sleep that increases your health problems and also may impact overall longevity. However, it also appears to go the opposite way as well, since people who get too much sleep, which is nine hours or more, also experiencing higher rates of health issues, as well as a higher incidence of obesity.
So, what is described as being too little sleep, exactly? Well anything that falls under the absolute minimum of six hours of sleep per night qualifies as very little sleep, but that can vary per study. Some studies claim that the only acceptable range of sleep is about seven to eight hours of solid rest per night.
The consensus does seem to be, however, that anything under six hours per night could be seriously detrimental to your health and that by getting this small amount of sleep on a regular basis may increase your odds of becoming overweight or obese. The thought process behind sleep's relationship to obesity and excess weight goes two fold.
Some researchers believe that those that get little sleep are already predisposed, perhaps genetically or personality-wise, to not get enough sleep by traits such as anxious personalities, depressive disorders, and even people who smoke or drink too much caffeine.
The end result, however, is the same, and that is that there is definitely a correlation between those that get too much or too little sleep and obesity, so it could be assumed that either one causes the other, or vice versa.
Another thought is that lack of sleep, or too much sleep, can trigger certain hormones and chemicals in the brain that make people more hungry and also induce a more insatiable appetite that contains more cravings for foods such as carbohydrates and sweets, to make up for the hormonal imbalance that is caused when someone is getting improper amounts of sleep, whether it be too much or not enough.
I know that I've seen this theory at work in my own life when I've had too much sleep, which for me is nine hours or more, although I can rarely sleep longer than that, or when I've had five or less hours of sleep.
On these mornings and the ensuing day after a bad night's sleep, I almost always find that I have a huge appetite, and that all I want to eat seems to be those "comfort foods" that are always the biggest diet no-no's, like sugary sweet and fatty fried foods. For me, my body has proven to me time and time again that adequate and correct amounts of sleep directly affect my appetite and the types of foods that I crave.
Getting the correct amount of rest, as well as the quality of that rest, every night on a consistent basis has also been studied as a possible cause or at least partial cause of some disease. Take for example a recent study that showed that men who worked the graveyard shift and also women who worked this shift were more prone to getting hormonally based cancers, for men that cancer being in the prostate, and for women the correlation was for breast cancer.
It makes sense that the lack of solid sleep and the kind of rest that coincides with something called the circadian rhythm, which is sleep that is had between certain times which is said to be more effective than sleeping during the day, causes people to be more prone to certain types of cancers as well. This would partially explain the obesity factor as well, since hormones are a delicately balanced presence in our body which greatly dictate our base weight.
They also run almost everything in our lives, from our moods, to our appetites, to the healthy growth, division, and reproduction of cells, so it makes sense that when our sleep is out of wack, it causes great harm to our bodies.
The lesson here? Well, it's that sleep is a lot more important than many of us think. It used to be something of a luxury to get the right amount of it, however, research is pointing to the fact that we have to make it as much of a priority to get the right amount if we want to live longer, disease free, and happier lives.
So, if you think that getting your Z's wasn't affecting your health, then you definitely want to read on, because it could be affecting not only your weight, but also may have a serious impact on your longevity, and your predisposition toward everything from cancer to diabetes.
You may think that this supposition goes only one way. That is, that it's only the lack of sleep that increases your health problems and also may impact overall longevity. However, it also appears to go the opposite way as well, since people who get too much sleep, which is nine hours or more, also experiencing higher rates of health issues, as well as a higher incidence of obesity.
So, what is described as being too little sleep, exactly? Well anything that falls under the absolute minimum of six hours of sleep per night qualifies as very little sleep, but that can vary per study. Some studies claim that the only acceptable range of sleep is about seven to eight hours of solid rest per night.
The consensus does seem to be, however, that anything under six hours per night could be seriously detrimental to your health and that by getting this small amount of sleep on a regular basis may increase your odds of becoming overweight or obese. The thought process behind sleep's relationship to obesity and excess weight goes two fold.
Some researchers believe that those that get little sleep are already predisposed, perhaps genetically or personality-wise, to not get enough sleep by traits such as anxious personalities, depressive disorders, and even people who smoke or drink too much caffeine.
The end result, however, is the same, and that is that there is definitely a correlation between those that get too much or too little sleep and obesity, so it could be assumed that either one causes the other, or vice versa.
Another thought is that lack of sleep, or too much sleep, can trigger certain hormones and chemicals in the brain that make people more hungry and also induce a more insatiable appetite that contains more cravings for foods such as carbohydrates and sweets, to make up for the hormonal imbalance that is caused when someone is getting improper amounts of sleep, whether it be too much or not enough.
I know that I've seen this theory at work in my own life when I've had too much sleep, which for me is nine hours or more, although I can rarely sleep longer than that, or when I've had five or less hours of sleep.
On these mornings and the ensuing day after a bad night's sleep, I almost always find that I have a huge appetite, and that all I want to eat seems to be those "comfort foods" that are always the biggest diet no-no's, like sugary sweet and fatty fried foods. For me, my body has proven to me time and time again that adequate and correct amounts of sleep directly affect my appetite and the types of foods that I crave.
Getting the correct amount of rest, as well as the quality of that rest, every night on a consistent basis has also been studied as a possible cause or at least partial cause of some disease. Take for example a recent study that showed that men who worked the graveyard shift and also women who worked this shift were more prone to getting hormonally based cancers, for men that cancer being in the prostate, and for women the correlation was for breast cancer.
It makes sense that the lack of solid sleep and the kind of rest that coincides with something called the circadian rhythm, which is sleep that is had between certain times which is said to be more effective than sleeping during the day, causes people to be more prone to certain types of cancers as well. This would partially explain the obesity factor as well, since hormones are a delicately balanced presence in our body which greatly dictate our base weight.
They also run almost everything in our lives, from our moods, to our appetites, to the healthy growth, division, and reproduction of cells, so it makes sense that when our sleep is out of wack, it causes great harm to our bodies.
The lesson here? Well, it's that sleep is a lot more important than many of us think. It used to be something of a luxury to get the right amount of it, however, research is pointing to the fact that we have to make it as much of a priority to get the right amount if we want to live longer, disease free, and happier lives.
Danna Schneider is the founder of several websites dedicated to natural treatments and remedies for common, everyday health issues and concerns. You can find information on an effective herbal insomnia remedy and sleep aid here at Melatrol review, and also a natural anti anxiety and depression remedy here at natural depression remedy.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Insomnia Affects Sleep Quality - How To Overcome It.
We all know sleep is important because our bodies' systems undergo repair and maintenance during our sleep.
But during our lives, we will experience some sleepless nights which are considered normal. But for some people, poor quality sleep is a recurring or even a lifelong problem.
When your sleep quality is affected, the end results could well be feelings of fatigue during the day, irritability, poor memory, loss of productivity and loss of interest in family and social life.
Therefore, achieving quality sleep is very important to your physical and emotional health. The quality of sleep is associated with number of sleeping hours. Doctors normally recommend that adults should need 7 to 10 hours of sleep daily and children would require more hours. But it varies among individuals. What matters is, for the duration you sleep, are you achieving the right quality of sleep?
Insomnia, or the inability to sleep well, is a common problem which could affect anyone at one time or another. A person with insomnia may have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, wake up frequently during the night, or wake up earlier than desired the next morning.
Insomnia generally falls into two categories, acute insomnia and chronic insomnia.
Acute insomnia, which can last from one night up to several weeks, may be caused by:
1. A single stressful event
2. A period of emotional stress
3. Illness
4. Temporary pain or discomfort
5. Disturbances in the sleeping environment such as noise, light or sleeping in a different bed
6. A change in the normal sleep pattern, caused by jet lag or working in a late shift
This kind of insomnia usually doesn't last long once the root cause(s) is resolved. But it could be dangerous during the healing period as lack of sleep over a reasonable period could affect your concentration, leading to serious consequences such as accidents while driving or at work.
Chronic insomnia is more serious as it can last for months or even years. The likely causes are:
1. Mental or emotional conditions, such as depression or anxiety, or stress.
2. Poor sleep habits, such as watching television programmes in bed or going to bed at different times.
3. Too much stimulants intake such as coffee or cigarettes.
4. Excessive drinking
5. Lack of regular exercise
6. Existing medical health problems such as breathing or heart problems, hormonal or digestive disorder, or chronic pain
7. Side effects of certain drugs
8. A different sleep disorder such as sleep apnea.
Before we go on, a little more explanation is required here for sleep apnea. It is a condition whereby a person regularly stops breathing, or has slowed breathing during sleep for 10 seconds or longer. Depending on the frequency the breathing stops (apnea) or slows (hypopnea), we classify the condition as mild, moderate or severe.
A person suffering from sleep apnea may snore loudly, and have restless sleep with difficulty breathing. As a result, he may wake up with a headache and tiredness which last the whole day. However, sleep apnea may improve with changes in sleeping habits. Sometimes, doctors may suggest use of devices to help easier breathing during sleep or even surgery.
Insomnia can be cured as long as the victim develops a regular sleeping habit.
Here are some remedies to help you ease or eliminate your sleeping disorder:
1. Reserve your bedroom for sleeping and sex only i.e. avoid eating, working, computers, TV, video or loud music in the bedroom
2. Create a clean and comfy environment for sleeping – soft lights, good ventilation, appropriate room temperature, good support pillows, sufficient comforters
3. Avoid caffeine drinks such as coffee, tea, soft drinks or chocolate drink and/or cigarettes after 7pm in the evening. Also avoid snacking before bedtime.
4. Improve your diet by reducing meat intake and eating more fruits and vegetables especially kiwi, berries, green leafy vegetables, whole grains and cereals.
5. Switch off your mobile phones, blackberries, MSN or Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ etc after a certain time at night.
6. Drink a glass of warm drink such as soymilk or herbal tea before going to bed. But remember to visit the bathroom right before bed to reduce the chances of needing to get up later to do it.
7. If you find you can't sleep after half an hour in bed, get up and read a book or listen to some soothing music. Use warm tungsten reading lamp instead of florescent lamp and don't read books which are stimulating. Avoid watching TV, VCDs or DVDs as the light from these devices are bright and will affect the body's biological clock, worsening your sleeplessness condition. You can return to bed as soon as you feel sleepy.
8. Exercise regularly does help to release tension, aiding sleep. But note not to do it late at night as this can result in insomnia.
9. Train your body to sleep and wake up at the same time every day regardless of whether it is a weekend or public holiday. The ideal time to get into bed is between 9 to 11pm so as to achieve the desired 8 hours of sleep.
10. If you need to nap during the day, try to keep it within 45 minutes which is sufficient to rejuvenate you. Napping too long may result in groggier mind and adversely affect your nocturnal sleep.
11. If you're working at home, stop work at least two hours before bedtime to allow your mind to unwind and relax.
With all these measures, doctors sometimes still need to prescribe hypnotics for sleep as treatment for insomnia But these medications are meant for short term only while patients try to find solutions to their various acute stressful problems.
Laura Ng is passionate in providing quality nutritional facts and health tips, plus recommending 100% toxic-free vegan recipes to anyone who cares about his/her health. Join her iOneHealth Club now to receive more health secrets and freebies available to her members only. You'll gain plenty but lose nothing. Promised. Visit http://www.ionehealth.com now.
But during our lives, we will experience some sleepless nights which are considered normal. But for some people, poor quality sleep is a recurring or even a lifelong problem.
When your sleep quality is affected, the end results could well be feelings of fatigue during the day, irritability, poor memory, loss of productivity and loss of interest in family and social life.
Therefore, achieving quality sleep is very important to your physical and emotional health. The quality of sleep is associated with number of sleeping hours. Doctors normally recommend that adults should need 7 to 10 hours of sleep daily and children would require more hours. But it varies among individuals. What matters is, for the duration you sleep, are you achieving the right quality of sleep?
Insomnia, or the inability to sleep well, is a common problem which could affect anyone at one time or another. A person with insomnia may have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, wake up frequently during the night, or wake up earlier than desired the next morning.
Insomnia generally falls into two categories, acute insomnia and chronic insomnia.
Acute insomnia, which can last from one night up to several weeks, may be caused by:
1. A single stressful event
2. A period of emotional stress
3. Illness
4. Temporary pain or discomfort
5. Disturbances in the sleeping environment such as noise, light or sleeping in a different bed
6. A change in the normal sleep pattern, caused by jet lag or working in a late shift
This kind of insomnia usually doesn't last long once the root cause(s) is resolved. But it could be dangerous during the healing period as lack of sleep over a reasonable period could affect your concentration, leading to serious consequences such as accidents while driving or at work.
Chronic insomnia is more serious as it can last for months or even years. The likely causes are:
1. Mental or emotional conditions, such as depression or anxiety, or stress.
2. Poor sleep habits, such as watching television programmes in bed or going to bed at different times.
3. Too much stimulants intake such as coffee or cigarettes.
4. Excessive drinking
5. Lack of regular exercise
6. Existing medical health problems such as breathing or heart problems, hormonal or digestive disorder, or chronic pain
7. Side effects of certain drugs
8. A different sleep disorder such as sleep apnea.
Before we go on, a little more explanation is required here for sleep apnea. It is a condition whereby a person regularly stops breathing, or has slowed breathing during sleep for 10 seconds or longer. Depending on the frequency the breathing stops (apnea) or slows (hypopnea), we classify the condition as mild, moderate or severe.
A person suffering from sleep apnea may snore loudly, and have restless sleep with difficulty breathing. As a result, he may wake up with a headache and tiredness which last the whole day. However, sleep apnea may improve with changes in sleeping habits. Sometimes, doctors may suggest use of devices to help easier breathing during sleep or even surgery.
Insomnia can be cured as long as the victim develops a regular sleeping habit.
Here are some remedies to help you ease or eliminate your sleeping disorder:
1. Reserve your bedroom for sleeping and sex only i.e. avoid eating, working, computers, TV, video or loud music in the bedroom
2. Create a clean and comfy environment for sleeping – soft lights, good ventilation, appropriate room temperature, good support pillows, sufficient comforters
3. Avoid caffeine drinks such as coffee, tea, soft drinks or chocolate drink and/or cigarettes after 7pm in the evening. Also avoid snacking before bedtime.
4. Improve your diet by reducing meat intake and eating more fruits and vegetables especially kiwi, berries, green leafy vegetables, whole grains and cereals.
5. Switch off your mobile phones, blackberries, MSN or Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ etc after a certain time at night.
6. Drink a glass of warm drink such as soymilk or herbal tea before going to bed. But remember to visit the bathroom right before bed to reduce the chances of needing to get up later to do it.
7. If you find you can't sleep after half an hour in bed, get up and read a book or listen to some soothing music. Use warm tungsten reading lamp instead of florescent lamp and don't read books which are stimulating. Avoid watching TV, VCDs or DVDs as the light from these devices are bright and will affect the body's biological clock, worsening your sleeplessness condition. You can return to bed as soon as you feel sleepy.
8. Exercise regularly does help to release tension, aiding sleep. But note not to do it late at night as this can result in insomnia.
9. Train your body to sleep and wake up at the same time every day regardless of whether it is a weekend or public holiday. The ideal time to get into bed is between 9 to 11pm so as to achieve the desired 8 hours of sleep.
10. If you need to nap during the day, try to keep it within 45 minutes which is sufficient to rejuvenate you. Napping too long may result in groggier mind and adversely affect your nocturnal sleep.
11. If you're working at home, stop work at least two hours before bedtime to allow your mind to unwind and relax.
With all these measures, doctors sometimes still need to prescribe hypnotics for sleep as treatment for insomnia But these medications are meant for short term only while patients try to find solutions to their various acute stressful problems.
Laura Ng is passionate in providing quality nutritional facts and health tips, plus recommending 100% toxic-free vegan recipes to anyone who cares about his/her health. Join her iOneHealth Club now to receive more health secrets and freebies available to her members only. You'll gain plenty but lose nothing. Promised. Visit http://www.ionehealth.com now.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Concerns about doctors
The General Medical Council (GMC) regulates doctors in the United Kingdom (UK). We register doctors to practise in the UK and have the powers to either issue a warning to a doctor, remove the doctor from the register, suspend or place conditions on a doctor's registration.Complaints and the role of the GMCRead information on the GMC's role in dealing with complaints – what do we do, what don't we do. View the Complaints and the role of the GMC page.Making a complaintRead information about how to make a complaint. See our Making a complaint section.Doctors under investigationThis section is for doctors who have been referred to the GMC, and includes advice on our procedures. View our Doctors under investigation section.Employers informationThe GMC has published guidance for employers relating to doctors under investigation and going through our Fitness to Practise procedures. View our information for employers.The investigation processThis section explains our procedures after a complaint comes in, throughout our investigation – and when we decide to conclude an investigation with a Warning. See our investigation process section.Hearings and decisionsThe hearings and decisions section explains about our Adjudication process – that is, when a doctor appears before the GMC to answer allegations. You can also find out about Interim Order Panels, and search for results of GMC Fitness to Practise hearings. See the Hearings and decisions section.Legal framework for Fitness to Practise proceduresThe legal framework for our Fitness to Practise procedures is set out in Medical Act 1983 and the Fitness to Practise Rules 2004. You can view the legislation and supplementary information on the Legislation page in the About Us section of the website. |
Moods - Dr. Liz Miller
source: System X Psychology
Have you ever wondered why some days you can leap out of bed and get everything done by 11 am, and other days, you can hardly get out of bed to make a cup of coffee? Somedays start off well and go bad, and other days, somehow with a bit of determination everything comes right in the end.
Welcome to your mood!!
Everyone always has a mood, all of the time. Not just when you notice it, but all of the time. You don't always notice it because the body has a habit of adapting. When nothing new happens we take things for granted and stop noticing whatever we are seeing, thinking or feeling.
Let me give you an example. Rub the back of your hand with your first finger, you can feel the skin under your finger moving. Stop moving your finger and hold it still. After a minute you can no longer feel the skin under your finger. Move your finger again. This is because the body has adapted to the feel of your skin.
You only notice your mood if it changes, or if it stopping you doing what you want to do. You may notice that you feel better or worse than you did first thing in the morning. You notice you are anxious about an up and coming event, when you want to settle down quietly and read. You may not notice it so much if you are milling around with a lot of other people who are also anxious.
Everyone has a mood, every minute of every hour of every day. No one can escape their mood. Which is good, because with practice you can learn to recognise your own mood and change it if you need to. You can also learn to recognise other peoples' moods. This helps you know how they are feeling, even before they tell you and to build better relationships.
To conclude, in the short term, mood tells you how a person feels, thinks and is likely to behave. Children are the best mood monitors on the planet. They never give bad news when their parents are in a bad mood. They wait until everything is quiet and peaceful before they drop their bombshell. That way, even if someone gets angry, he or she will be a lot less angry than if they had given the bad news to a someone who was already in a bad mood.
Copyright (c) Dr. Liz Miller
http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tick box training
Tick box training
Tick box training is about completing assignments, ticking the box and then being considered trained.
It has benefits and disadvantages
Tick box training means you know what you are meant to be learning - at it best it lays out in plain English exactly what you are meant to be able to do, to know or to understand. Then when you have convinced another human being that this is the case, they tick your box.
You wander around, or even march in the direction you need to go to get all your boxes ticked. It is a bit like a treasure hunt. Go to the crossroads by the pub, where you can see a white horse and under a sign hidden by a tree, you will find the next clue. Once you have collected twenty clues, or ticked twenty boxes you will be a fully trained gherkin.
Tick box training is great - it gives everyone something to work towards, its fair, its politically correct, and there is no time limit. No bonuses for getting all your boxes ticked in the first six months of a seven year training and no penalties for staying on for a decade. For the game player, timing their ticking means that they can be in position for the best job. Waiting to throw their final double six just at the very moment the big prize goes past on the conveyor belt of job opportunity and employment.
The benefit of tick box training is that once you have ticked a particular box of competencies, you never need to think about it again. You have done it, you have got your tick, you are competent, your brain can move onto better things. In the meantime you can hope fervently you will never need that training at a time you don't have a) a scapegoat b) senior colleague present or c) someone who actually knows what they doing in that competency to keep you out of the doodoo and stop your name being dragged through the streets of incompetence.
Where does it stand legally? One or two poor doctors got dragged through the mud for giving Ledward, fastest gynaecologist in the West a reference. Maybe, this is a way of finding a scapegoat. X does Y, badly because they are incompetent even though they have five competency ticks. Why did X cock up? because X is an incompetent but managed to make four people feel sufficiently involved with him or her that they ticked his box. The fifth person felt guilty, and that they should not hold X back just because X was having a bad day. The other four had felt the same but were unable to tell X that.
Outstanding people stand out, choosing the middle ranks is difficult. The difference between excellent and good is not difficult, the difference between good and satisfactory is harder. SHould satisfactory people be allowed to succeed, in a high risk specialty?? probably not! But is it politically correct to discriminate against someone who with a bit of extra training might be able to do a perfectly adequate job?
Copyright (c) Dr. Liz Miller
http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk
Tick box training is about completing assignments, ticking the box and then being considered trained.
It has benefits and disadvantages
Tick box training means you know what you are meant to be learning - at it best it lays out in plain English exactly what you are meant to be able to do, to know or to understand. Then when you have convinced another human being that this is the case, they tick your box.
You wander around, or even march in the direction you need to go to get all your boxes ticked. It is a bit like a treasure hunt. Go to the crossroads by the pub, where you can see a white horse and under a sign hidden by a tree, you will find the next clue. Once you have collected twenty clues, or ticked twenty boxes you will be a fully trained gherkin.
Tick box training is great - it gives everyone something to work towards, its fair, its politically correct, and there is no time limit. No bonuses for getting all your boxes ticked in the first six months of a seven year training and no penalties for staying on for a decade. For the game player, timing their ticking means that they can be in position for the best job. Waiting to throw their final double six just at the very moment the big prize goes past on the conveyor belt of job opportunity and employment.
The benefit of tick box training is that once you have ticked a particular box of competencies, you never need to think about it again. You have done it, you have got your tick, you are competent, your brain can move onto better things. In the meantime you can hope fervently you will never need that training at a time you don't have a) a scapegoat b) senior colleague present or c) someone who actually knows what they doing in that competency to keep you out of the doodoo and stop your name being dragged through the streets of incompetence.
Where does it stand legally? One or two poor doctors got dragged through the mud for giving Ledward, fastest gynaecologist in the West a reference. Maybe, this is a way of finding a scapegoat. X does Y, badly because they are incompetent even though they have five competency ticks. Why did X cock up? because X is an incompetent but managed to make four people feel sufficiently involved with him or her that they ticked his box. The fifth person felt guilty, and that they should not hold X back just because X was having a bad day. The other four had felt the same but were unable to tell X that.
Outstanding people stand out, choosing the middle ranks is difficult. The difference between excellent and good is not difficult, the difference between good and satisfactory is harder. SHould satisfactory people be allowed to succeed, in a high risk specialty?? probably not! But is it politically correct to discriminate against someone who with a bit of extra training might be able to do a perfectly adequate job?
Copyright (c) Dr. Liz Miller
http://www.drlizmiller.co.uk
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