|
Thoughts and opinion from the wards
|
|
My day 'on strike'
I thought I'd just post a quick blog about my day today.
As you all know, this was the day of BMA-led industrial action against the proposed NHS Pension scheme changes. For background, I am an FY1 working in Cardiology in a District General Hospital. It was a regular day for me today and I was not on-call. I was based on the Cardiology ward as per normal. There are 2 Cardiology teams, each comprising a consultant, registrar, FY2 and FY1. We all received an email from medical staffing the day before, advising us to 'sign in' on the day of industrial action to prove that we have come into work and to avoid being docked a day's pay. 8:45am - Arrive on ward. All seems normal. Nurses getting on with doing obs etc. No other doctors present. I decide to wait for my registrar to start the ward round. The consultant is down in clinic on Thursdays, and it is the job of the rest of the team to do the ward round and call him if there are any issues. 8:50am - Lots of emails going around from the consultants in response to yesterday's email from medical staffing. They are unimpressed with the need to 'sign in' in an obscure part of the hospital, and most use the mailing list as an opportunity to prove that they are in hospital and about to begin their ward round/clinic etc. 8:55am - Other FY1 arrives. 9:00am - Both registrars arrive. Both ward rounds begin. Neither FY2 arrives as both are on annual leave. 11:30am - Ward round ends. I get on with some jobs as my registrar sees a new patient. 12:15pm - I head off to the Mess for lunch. Several doctors are sitting in the Mess, all of whom have been going about their daily job as per normal, including elective surgical lists and ward rounds. I see a surgical registrar bleeped for a trauma call down in A&E, and he heads down. Speaking to some of the other doctors, I realise that only a handful of consultants haven't turned up. Most consultants are in, pretty much all registrars are in, and all juniors are in (with the exception of those on annual leave). 1:00pm - Head back to the ward to finish jobs. 5:00pm - Leave work. So, in my hospital, it was a very normal day. Very little was different and very few doctors actually took part in the strike. What was your day like? Any different? Or very similar? JJA.
|
Recent Entries
Archives
|
