I’m not on twitter (and, “no”, for the uninitiated, that isn’t the latest designer drug). But a lot of people are.
I wonder whether Hospital Dr should be. Maybe not yet. Not sure you’re quite ready for a daily “tweet” on the latest drama affecting the NHS. I know I’m not.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists is, however. When worried about the recruitment levels of UK trained doctors they tapped up Stephen Fry to twitter his followers (a staggering half million) with the suggestion that they should all consider psychiatry as a career. We may have to wait a few years to find out whether it was a success.
Researchers at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital needed to recruit post-menopausal women for a new study on heart disease which involves eating lots of super strength Belgian chocolate for a year. You wouldn’t have thought they’d need to, but again a dollop of twitter was used with a topping of you tube.
If you’ve heard of any other medical uses - of twitter, not Belgian chocolate - then I’d like to hear them.
While we’re on the subject of media, a long-time friend of Hospital Doctor - Malcolm Morrison, a retired surgeon from Swindon - sent me this pithy message about this shiny new(ish) website.
“Hurrah for the return of Hospital Doctor - even if it is only in electronic form! No more marmalade-splattered pages at the breakfast table. Can we also expect a return of the Hospital Doctor of the Year Awards?
“May I suggest it would have to be re-named The Department Directive-Driven Digitalised Doctor of the Year.
“The winner of the award would be the doctor who was judged - by computer analysis - to have seen the most patients, in the shortest time, at the least cost.
“Whether the diagnosis was right or wrong, whether the patient got better or worse, was cured or died, whether the treatment was appropriate or inappropriate, was explained or not, whether any ‘choice’ was given or not, whether proper consent was obtained or not would be quite irrelevant - because such matters do not form part of the measurement of quality of care - as defined by the Department.
“Whether there would be any entrants, or not, is quite another matter!”
Surgeons may have to retire, but they never lose their ability to be cutting. Good idea Malcolm. Maybe we could run it entirely through twitter and you tube…
Is there something Freudian about psychiatrists seeking recuitment from amongst the sort of people who would want to ‘twitter’ with Stephen Fry? Will they all have a sufficiently high ‘QI’? I suspect they will all be a little ‘funny’!
Malcolm Morrison
Retired Orthopod, Swindon