I can't believe its been so long

It looks like it's been about six weeks since I wrote anything. Well the Blog master doesn't lie.

About three weeks ago I had a fit, seizure, epileptic turn, whatever you want to call it. I was about to give a presentation to a regional NHS committee called 'the Cluster'. They have taken over from the PCT and are overseeing the development of Clinical Commissioning Groups. I was to deliver a talk aimed at satisfying them that we have systems in place for preventing a recurrence of the Mid-Staffordhire NHS disaster. Here the over viewing body, the PCT then, did not have proper systems in place for holding the hospital Trust to account. There was a failure, if you like, of appropriate scrutiny and regulation. The 'Francis report' was the result of an enquiry into what went wrong and so we have to now satisfy the 'Cluster' that as a CCG we wont fall into making the mistakes of 'mid-stafs'. We wont, but we had to demonstrate it. I was looking forward to showing off how good we are. Which we are.

As I was about to stand up I started feeling very peculiar, weirdly weird. My eye sight was going crazy, in the zone where I was not able to see normally. The next thing I knew I was waking up in the back of an ambulance on it's way to the MRI. I had bitten my tongue. There was no doubt what had happened. There had been a room full of witnesses.

We joked after that I had taken the Francis report thing about scrutinising hospital services a bit too far. I did actually get pretty amazing treatment, including a visit from the deputy chief executive and the medical director. I don't think every A&E attendance gets such high level visitors. The news spread like wildfire and within a day or two I was getting messages from far and wide.

Fortunately, it hasn't happened again and I'm on medication. Brain scans are OK, so no new event.

All this has happened at the same time as my partners are making life difficult for me.

Good news though. I have got a post and accepted it, at another practice. Its a salaried post but who cares. I will see normal patients for two sessions and do a third cardiology session. Meanwhile I have also discovered that I am the contract holder for the current NHS contract, so if I go from my present practice then it has to be put out to tender. Oh dear what a responsibility. I have used my newly realised bargaining power to argue for a continued presence at my current practice to see the patients that still want to see me. Suddenly I have the best of all worlds.

The CCG stuff is going from strength to strength. We are getting widely praised for our collaborative work with the hospital, redesigning and integrating care in the community. The practices are also starting to see the benefits and becoming more enthused.

Oh, and I'm going to Mauritius again with the children and hopefully grandchild, in September.

So, it's not that nothing has happened that there has been a pause in the blog, rather the opposite. Life is good and changing all the time. God is good, but no more fits please.