PPlog

LINks now truly on the way. Click the title for the official announcement.

There had to be a couple of mail exchanges with PCX not committing themselves to many words. These are the mails: “Hi Mike   Thanks for posting that. The comments box for blogs has a character limit which your response went over. I have fixed in the back end of the system and posted your reply.   Comments and forum posts will get refused automatically if there is inappropriate language as the T&Cs and Guidelines state.     Feel free to publish my reply!   Best wishes Paul” I then mailed back: “Hello Paul. The moderation policy says:     *  Conduct and use of language - Your comments should be within the scope of the topic under discussion. Comments should be civil and tasteful, and must not be malicious or designed to offend. Swear-words and profanity will not be accepted.     * No reference should be made to the personality of other participants nor should attacks be made on an individual's character.     * Legal liability - You should remember that you are legally responsi

I tried to respond to a Patient Citizen Exchange blog by Laura Greene today. I said: Hello Laura. Welcome - and my admiration? for you "single-handedly representing the entire health voluntary sector and 1000+ PCX membership..." My first question has to be: what is the composition of the Strategic Advisory Board? And my second question: what proportion of service users to professionals is there on that Board? There are indeed millions of impatient citizens out there. They are called Service Users (primarily because 'Patient" carries the labels 'One that has things done to her/him'; 'One that is subservient to the "We know what is best for you" approach'; 'One that is at the wrong end of an imbalance of power.' etc). The Americans prefer the term 'consumers', but whatever, we should avoid the term with the negative connotations. I was listening to the 5 Live debate this morning on the Strictly Come Dancing row about whether

GPs are as variable as the rest of us (mine is an absolute wonder). Expected to be all things to all fozzicks it is impossible for them to have anything but a twinge of knowledge on some subjects - usually those for which there is a speciality profession, like mental health problems. But, in the world of bullying employers, their relative ignorance in some areas is, unfortunately, used all the time to shore up the bullying. And because they do, in our society, have a magic red velvet cloak of status, they are believed without demur. This happens most in their sometimes putatively authoritative denial of a diagnosis of any kind of mental health problem and if challenged: “Are you questioning my clinical judgement” when in fact their clinical judgement is not worth an Israeli’s chance in Iran. It happens though - a GP’s judgement is taken as gospel in Courts and Case Conferences for instance, where people’s lives can be wrecked on the say so of these elevated experts with their fragme

As a 'self-appointed individual' (or in language the NHS understands better - a SAI!) I believe in telling things as they are and not obscuring and faking by spin and deception. That's one of the reasons I squirmed when I read a letter about the eventual demise of PPI Forums in the Guardian today signed by Sharon Grant et al. Now I know many PPI Forums which have done excellent work, and I strongly support the idea that LINks should retain PPI Forums and build on their many positive achievements, but it is just plain silly to try to bury the fact that some have been abysmal - we should acknowledge the latter, learn from them and move on. On the PCX forum, a Camden PPI Forum member has written to endorse my long-held opinion that too many Forums are host to people who are there for reasons of social status; a 'look what I'm doing - aren't I good' pose, a seeking for society power; or even a commercial edge. In my early 2004 article PPI = Patient and Public I

Long time between entries but diabetes weakens your immune system and what would ordinarily be a few days down with flu turns into something of a virulent marathon. Anyway, back now and I’ve just posted my second blog to the Patient Citizen Exchange network. I’m not sure they’ll approve as the network is a government initiative and the blog is critical, so I’m posting it here too: Planning for LINks Last week I put an edited version of the DoH document `Getting Ready for LINks - Planning Your Local Involvement Network` on ppeyes . I have to say I'm unsure of just how useful this guide is going to be as its detail is daunting both in terms of the fine print structural practicalities which the LINks and the host body are called upon to install themselves - according to varying local conditions, and the kaleidescopic choice of underlying operative and strategic principles offered. The document indeed, suggests, offers and prompts rather than prescribing. This is most welcome as for