I still find one of the most bizarre aspects is how your own juniors ignore you as a source of advice! I watched (from 3 feet away) one of the SHOs pause and
look up before asking a staff nurse across the desk how to manage a ruptured Achilles tendon on Sunday. I strongly support Adrian's view that we are and
must position ourselves to the outside world as the Golden hour experts - whatever the problem. We are used to time criticality in a way many of our colleagues
are not, particularly in a non-operating theatre environment. However, after the experiences of this weekend, I have to issue a call for more staff in the specialty
at all levels. There has been a moratorium on SHO numbers for four years now, and in that time our workload has risen by over 15%, as I am sure has everyone
else's. The specialty as a whole lost several SHO numbers when Guys closed as the numbers were reallocated to oncology, and with the planned expansion in
medical numbers (yeah, I know) we have to start somewhere. Who can start exerting pressure on the post-graduate Deans?
Best wishes,
Rowley Cottingham
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