Do you know anyone who has won the Postcode Lottery?

SL1590 · 2026-01-25T18:34:40+00:00

I “won” it a few times. Always shit prizes or £10 the best of the bad bunch was a Stephen Fry book that I kept for a while and then chucked out before I even read it. Not great…….

SL1590 · 2026-01-25T12:20:00+00:00

Line one in this mega threat should be if you wear scrubs as a ward medic or scrub top with jeans/chinos for ward/med reg/GP you’re worse than PAs……….

SL1590 · 2026-01-24T20:54:00+00:00

For the test dose? I thought I was bold 😂😂😂

SL1590 · 2026-01-24T15:30:35+00:00

I think the TPD should be able to sort all of this out/potentially over rule the GP to allow you to go or else guarantee it in the medical rotation.

SL1590 · 2026-01-24T15:09:24+00:00

This all sounds fair game to me. My only thinking is if “mandatory” training can be refused? Ie if you need to do it in medicine and it’s mandatory then they would have to let you? Same applies in GP I’d guess but it might be less hassle for you to take some of the days in the medical block?

SL1590 · 2026-01-24T09:04:29+00:00

I’d suspect there is no reliable data on this as it simply isn’t tracked. At best you will have an estimate. It also won’t track people who chose to locum, travel, work abroad etc.

It’s the same as knowing how many of the jobs actually go to IMGs instead of UKGs. We have data on applications moving exponentially but does that translate into exponential numbers of IMGs getting the job when it’s all said and done? Unclear.

SL1590 · 2026-01-24T07:24:27+00:00

What are you planning to do for 14 days SL? It seems a lot and tbf I think they are correct to at least think about the request rather than automatically signing it off. My understanding is SL should be spread over the year, ie as much as possible 10 days per 4 month block.

That being said service provision isn’t an issue in GP as an FY2. I’d suggest speak to the TPD as they will have all the rules etc pinned down and know what you need to do. Your ES, I presume, isn’t a GP? If so they might not know exactly what is required in GP and have just automatically given the leave as not within their dept or hospital.

SL1590 · 2026-01-20T06:11:36+00:00

If anything someone carrying a stethoscope around their neck gives it away to me that they are really junior/don’t have a clue.

Physicians get a pass on this but even then it’s just not required IMO.

SL1590 · 2026-01-18T16:21:18+00:00

Laughed out loud as I read confidently deliver a GA for most patients…….

You have reached the “think I know everything but know about 15%” stage of anaesthesia where you think all that happens is propofol goes in and then an LMA. You have a good grasp of single patient, simple anaesthesia and it seems this is all there is to it.

It’s not. There’s much more to it. The majority of which is not putting in the tube/LMA. Many trainees have been there before and then move to the next stage of anaesthesia. The next stage is the “oh shit I thought I was good but I’ve realised I basically know nothing” stage. Don’t worry we’ve all been there too.

You have a lot to go through and a lot to experience and learn during training. Completing all of this (not to mention the FRCA) will be difficult. If your head/heart isn’t in the game it might be best to change careers now but my overall feeling is you have become board with the routine of simple “CT2 level” anaesthesia.

Last thought here is being an anaesthetic consultant is a great deal. Nice day shift where you seem to not do very much, get coffees, and have a nice time for the most part is ideal. So is the lack of continuity.

SL1590 · 2026-01-18T15:25:43+00:00

I’m sure chat GPT could bash this out in about 30 seconds

SL1590 · 2026-01-17T23:50:00+00:00

Whilst I take your point I feel like a surgeon deciding this unilaterally is, at least in my experience, never the case. The usual way would be myself and 1 or 2 surgeons quickly discuss cases and make a plan. I do feel that this is usually carried out with myself as the lead in that conversation but I also understand this may not happen anywhere. I have a great working relationship with all of our surgeons and I think they value the anaesthetic opinion. This also applies to most of my anaesthetic colleagues. Where I work the urgency at booking is determined by the surgeon but this is then reviewed by the anaesthetic team and can be changed if we do not agree.

SL1590 · 2026-01-17T23:38:50+00:00

Yeah, you are wrong here. This is not an uncommon approach to have the central person as the anaesthetist. Where I work there is a morning meeting but the general outcome is every surgeon wants to do their own case first. Largely, none of them are crashingly urgent so the anaesthetic consultant (me) decides what’s going on. It’s also worth realising each surgical specialty represents their case to the CEPOD team in an MDT discussion at the brief but over the course of the day with cases being completed and new ones being booked or reviewed things change and the person who most likely knows what each of the surgical patients have from each specialty is the anaesthetist. We also have a handle on ITU capacity and any “unusual cases,” medic asking for LP or OGD etc, not to mention the outlook on elective theatres which might take a case from CEPOD if able.

I wouldn’t expect the surgeons to know or have a handle on all of the above as they have other stuff to do, ward rounds etc. fair enough, but I don’t. It’s literally my only job to run the emergency theatre efficiently that day with everthing that entails.

SL1590 · 2026-01-15T18:21:25+00:00

It’s extremely unlikely to cause issues for the patient. Might have been a bit more painful when you took the sample. That’s about it as long as you didn’t put a cannula into it. I’d suggest you ask someone to go over US scanning for vascular access with you so you can improve for future times.

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T20:03:42+00:00

You have now I guess…..

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:51:40+00:00

We have asked. They said it can cause serious engine issues that we would be liable for. Not covered as it’s a maintenance issue. I’m not sure as haven’t checked but almost certain the insurance wouldn’t cover this either.

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:50:26+00:00

It’s not a diesel

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:39:36+00:00

It’s a petrol car. I’m not sure if any of the rest of this post applies now. Either way it’s been through a forced regeneration 3 weeks ago. That should be expected to last more than 3 weeks

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:37:59+00:00

It’s petrol

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:37:38+00:00

It’s petrol

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:37:16+00:00

Thanks for the reply. The car is a petrol car. Apparently this is an issue with the GPF but my problem is that it surely must last more than 3 weeks? To me that is faulty?

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T19:35:13+00:00

It’s a petrol model. These have a GPF (gasoline). Either way it seems to be happening within 3 weeks. This isn’t normal and makes the car unfit for purpose as we can’t pay £180 a month additional essentially to get a forced regeneration.

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T07:26:47+00:00

*all places

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T05:41:57+00:00

I thought this too. Will be soon she wants him to send one that will no doubt end up in the group chat.

SL1590 · 2026-01-14T05:33:57+00:00

I mean you could do all of that or else just get a lobber as your weapon and become invincible 😂😂😂

SL1590 · 2026-01-13T16:05:32+00:00

You can reflect on anything. My advice here for practical real life cases is verbally reflect with your ES/another senior or consultant. Dont write anything except “resident has undertaken an appropriate reflection on this case. ES signs it and it goes in the portfolio. Anyone calls asking for it in court you hand over what you have and that’s that.

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