My stomach lurched last weekend as I prepared myself for ‘getting back to work’. Although I’d actually only had one day off over the holidays, there was a feeling in the pit of my stomach as if I’d chewed up a disposable mask and it was sitting there, churning. In a lame attempt to better…

On the first day of Christmas My receptionist sent to me A sick note as she was poorly. On the second day of Christmas My practice nurse sent to me Two patient tasks, And a sick note as she was poorly. On the third day of Christmas My healthcare worker sent to me Three new…

I have many, many moments during the day when staff members come in to see me, ring me or just tell me as I’m walking down the corridor something that makes me think internally, ‘You’re telling me this why?!’ Externally, of course, I smile and politely try and point them, very nicely, in the direction of: ‘You could really manage to…

On a Saturday morning, I like to lie in until, oooooh, at least 7.30. I take this time to catch up on ‘life’. By that, I mean scrolling through Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. A bit of escapism. Sadly, as I was scrolling recently, I came across a post about the local GP surgery on one…

It’s my appraisal tomorrow. As usual I’ve left everything until the last minute. And as usual one of the items on my “I must do better next year” list is “filling in my training and reflections throughout the year”. This year has been… a challenge… and there’s more and worse to come. I often get…

As the clock struck midnight, taking us into 2020, never would I have thought, as a practice manager, I’d be saying any of these phrases this year! “You can’t come into the surgery unless you’re wearing a mask.” “For the fourth time today, Teresa, the mask goes OVER your nose.” “Sally, stop baking cakes –…

Sometimes I feel like I must be Bobby Ewing from the 80s’ American soap opera ‘Dallas’. If you’re too young to remember, after a particularly bad few months, when during the storyline he’d actually died, the viewer was taken back to a scene in the shower where, thankfully, the last few months had all been…