Royal Army Medical Corps

 

Today, the 15 November 2024, marks the end of a British institution that has lasted over a hundred years, and yet does not seem to have had a mention in the media. Even the Wikipedia entry for the RAMC makes no mention of it’s end as yet.

The Royal Army Medical Corps was formed in 1898. Since then the RAMC has attended to the health of Army personnel through peacetime and numerous conflicts, in the UK and throughout the world. It’s members have won 27 Victoria Crosses including two of only three recipients ever to win it twice.

It has undergone many changes. Of nearly forty military hospitals throughout the world not one remains. The last one, Princess Mary’s Hospital in Akrotiri closed in 2013. My own son was born at the Louise Margaret Maternity Hospital, part of the Cambridge Military Hospital, which, despite it’s name, was located in Aldershot.

The Army obviously is not going without it’s own dedicated medical services. The RAMC is being amalgamated with the Royal Army Dental Corps and the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps to form the new Royal Army Medical Services.

The thousands of us who have served with the RAMC over the years are sad to see it go, and wish it’s successor all success.

DZ. Belize 1988

Drinking on duty

 

DZ was interested to read this article about a nurse who was struck off the Nursing register for consuming alcohol at work.

Now, I’m not going to condone or defend her conduct. Drinking on duty is most definitely frowned upon for medical and other professionals in the UK and I think that that is understandable.

But it wasn’t always so.

My first ever job as a pre registration houseman was at an inner city hospital. There was a pub literally next door. It was not at all unusual for entire teams of doctors on duty to take advantage of the odd quiet spell and meet up in the pub for a beer. The landlord graciously allowed doctors to use his personal landline phone (There were no celphones in those days) to contact the hospital when they were bleeped. There was even a suggestion that a hospital phone be laid on for this purpose, but though considered, it did not materialise. But the management were perfectly aware of, and unconcerned about the practice.

And then there was Christmas. Through the year grateful patients would often donate small gifts to the staff when they went home. The two commonest gifts were chocolates, or a bottle of some alcoholic beverage.

It was remarkable how quickly a box of chocolates could disappear in the presence of nurses. Some things don’t change. But alcohol was locked away. At Christmas it would come out, and a small number of bottles would be available in the sister’s office for ward staff and doctors to sample. Again this was common knowledge, and tolerated.

Not by everyone it has to be said. One teetotal ultra religious consultant one year took all the bottles on his ward and emptied them down the sink!

And in France, until relatively recently, wine was available to hospital staff having lunch in the hospital cafeteria. This now appears to be coming to an end however.

DZ will certainly confess that throughout his career, when on call from home he would often have a beer or a wine, though always careful to stay well below the driving limit.

In all my years I never saw anyone abuse the privilege. I never once saw anyone drunk on duty.

Ads

 Advertising is a strange aspect of modern life. From the moment you wake and interact with the world you are bombarded with messages trying to persuade you to part with your cash in return for some overhyped item or service. Often it's never occurred to you in your life that you would want what's on offer.

What DZ considers ethical advertising simply describes what is on offer, and the ad may have the advantage of not taking itself too seriously, and or being entertaining in it's own right.

But all too often advertisers stray into practices that are less than ethical. False claims abound, particularly for slimming products,  medical devices, tooth whiteners etc, and some of these DZ has highlighted on this site.

And then there's hyperbole, and I've recently come across a glaring example of this. An ad that waxes lyrical about what they call "vertical room storage" functioning as both "decor and storage" and "a perfect example of how thoughtful design can transform functional elements into striking focal points....deepening the sense of coziness and connection to nature."

Or as DZ likes to call it, "Shelves!"

Akusoli scam

 I haven't done a scam post for some time, though they seem to be my most popular. Akusoli are insoles with magnets in, purported to reduce various aches and pains, and also reduce body fat, by acupressure. A pair will set you back £30 to £90 depending on whatever offer they are offering at the time.

Interestingly trustpilot reviews are generally favorable. Until you read them. It looks as if they get their customers to write a review as part of the ordering process, meaning that the review writer hasn't actually tried them yet. Reviews from those who have received and used them are, unsurprisingly, not so positive.

And there is no reason why they should be. Acupuncture, and acupressure are both alternative medicine practices with no credible or reputable research showing any benefit. Oh, come on. Does it sound feasible that magnetic insoles would have any effect. Get real!

But the sellers know full well how slimming and pain relieving products appeal to the desperate. The advertising blurb for these things is bullshit, with numerous pseudoscientific claims, all fallacious, and the product itself manifest garbage. 

Save your money. Don't be taken in.

Appraisal fails yet again.

 Great Ormond Street Hospital has long been regarded in the UK as providing the very best in NHS paediatric care. So this story about one of their former orthopaedic surgeons is exceptionally worrying. Like the case of Ian Paterson, Mr Yaser Jabbar seems to have been performing botched and mutilating surgery for some years, before finally being stopped. Sadly, as soon as the shit hit the fan Mr Jabbar decided he didn't want to face the music, and fucked off sharpish to Dubai.

It's clear that he had been underperforming for some time, and concerns raised with the Trust from unhappy parents were ignored by management. And once more one of the guilty is the Medical Director. What is it with Medical Directors?

Finally the Trust asked the Royal College of Surgeons to review the problem, prompted by the sheer volume of complaints from parents and staff.

Notice if you will, one glaring absence from the list of those who apprehended this guy. The General Medical Council. I thought they were supposed, through the appraisal and revalidation system, to pick up these problems early on.

It couldn't be could it, that appraisal is totally ineffective in this, or any other objective? Surely not. That would mean it was a total, complete and utter waste of time and resources

Mystery object answer

 

No suggestions on this one. It's not actually medical. It's a hand held device for dispatching chickens quickly by breaking the neck in the approved place. Not approved by the chickens obviously.

Mystery object

This popped up on DZ' news feed today. 

Any guesses?