Sometimes I can’t quite believe, or even
understand, how my career has turned out. I don’t think any of it
was planned, but someone once said that the secret of life was to
turn accidents into opportunities, and I guess that when an
opportunity has appeared my attitude has been – “why not give it a
try?” After all – what’s the worst that can happen?
So – no week is really typical, but looking at
just one recent week in my diary gives you a flavour of what I’m up
to.
Monday: I worked at the
Healthcare Commission, which is the inspectorate of Healthcare in
England and Wales. I am National Clinical Advisor – which means I
try and represent the views of clinicians at the very highest level
of the organisation. In the evening I went to a seminar at which
Sir George Alberti was talking about the reorganisation of
emergency care in the NHS. I have known him for several years and
at a simple human level it was good to catch up.
Tuesday: I was working as a
GP in my rural Cambridgeshire Practice – seeing a typical wide and
busy selection of cases, coping with a very sick woman who was
frightened to go to hospital as she was so fearful of MRSA,
breaking bad news to a man with a new lung cancer, congratulating a
women on the birth of her baby, and reflecting that the first time
I met her was when she herself was a fetus – and I was hearing her
heart beat through an ultrasound machine
Wednesday: Work at the RCGP
on plans for our new building, work at the Healthcare Commission on
how clinical quality is measured, a meeting with people from the
Long Term Conditions Team at the Department of Health, and a
seminar on the dangers of Privatisation of Healthcare with
Professor Alyson Pollock – fascinating stuff
Thursday: Chairing a
conference of different healthcare regulators on how we could all
work more closely together without duplication. Found some time
afterwards to write my regular column for “The Practitioner”,
followed by dinner with the Presidents of many other Royal
Colleges, hosted by BUPA
Friday: Work at the RCGP. A
six mile run at lunchtime – as I am training for the April London
Marathon – and away early so my wife and I can have a weekend
break. I have always been passionate about the importance of proper
time off. It’s all too easy, at any stage of a medical career, to
inflict burnout on oneself – so pleasure and relaxation are
vital.
And next week will be completely different. My
wife says I have ADHD. She may be right – but at least I don’t get
bored.