Perspective

Minimal words from me today - the video speaks for itself.

(Source: http://www.upworthy.com/this-kid-just-died-what-he-left-behind-is-wondtacular-rip)

Big Brother

Ever since reading George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, aged 16, I've felt mildly on edge about the idea that we live in an society with an increasing amount of surveillance. Forgive me if my initial statement sounds incredibly cynical. In all honesty, I do agree that CCTV and other monitoring systems tend to serve a great purpose in the majority of circumstances. I must say, I'm less of a fan when 'cookies' on my browser ensure that I have continual adverts tempting me with that pair of shoes that I desperately want (but cannot afford) keep popping up on the side of my Facebook page. 

The important thing that I'm trying to say here is that I think that there are some circumstances in which surreptitiously 'keeping an eye' on people is simply inappropriate – particularly in a healthcare setting. On the few occasions in which it has been done before by healthcare professionals who felt that their concerns had been ignored by the appropriate parties, undercover filming has certainly worked. Take the damning scenes at Winterbourne View revealed to the public back in 2001, for example...watch the video below if you haven't seen it already (I should warn you that some of the imaging may upset you).

                                                             (Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=subMgwyJOK8)

Despite this, the suggestion (albeit a few weeks back now, I'm behind with my blogging) that using hidden cameras could become part of the inspection regime in care homes next year still does not sit well with me. First and foremost, as the new adult social care chief inspector, Andrea Sutcliffe, rightly points out because of the need to respect the privacy and dignity of the residents of these homes. Perhaps we can justify filming ‘snapshots’ of poor care and retrospectively gaining consent from those who we have filmed in order to provide evidence to make a change. It might even be possible to say that doing so was necessary to get your voice heard in order to make positive changes for patient care.

I would argue that to condone undercover filming (and thus to make it a societal norm) seems to miss the point. Why don’t we deal with poor care before it happens, rather than try to catch truants out in a way which compromises the dignity of the vulnerable when it’s simply too late. Okay, rant over.

Pearls of wisdom

Source: http://www.spiritualistresources.com/cgi-bin/quotes/index.pl?read=131

If I had a penny, okay a pound, for every time a patient responded to the request to practice examining them said, 'Well, we all gotta learn', I would be a very rich medical student. (I'd like to add that this is said in a strong West-country accent, just so that you feel like you're really there.) I'm sure that the majority of my colleagues would agree.

Today has been no different except for the fact that one of the patients I met described themself as a 'whistleblower'. It was like my subconscious slapping me around the face and telling me to stop procrastinating. Why, you ask? Well I'm starting to get a little nervous actually, in exactly two weeks I'll be presenting my thoughts on whistleblowing (you might remember me going on about this during dissertation season) to a load of academics and healthcare professionals. My sphincters loosen up at the thought of it*

Within five minutes of meeting this patient, they had imparted their wise words on me 'Chantal, just remember when you become a doctor - if you're absolutely sure that you're right about something then never be afraid to speak up about it.' Like music to my ears. Well, until he told me that he was convinced that 'cannabis cures all ills.'

Each to their own.

*I sincerely apologise, poor medic joke. Yuck.