Fat Birds and Being a Blogger

Dr No is a Fat Bird

Dr No has moaned about the fact that bloggers are becoming as extinct as the Dodo. I often compare Dr No to a large fat dim bird with a facade of apparent intelligence. Dr No has returned to the blogsphere after a  short spell following the disaster between Kate Middleton, him and another medical blogger [who was due for a GMC hearing]. Dr No didn't make matters simple but decided to stab his long term friend in the proverbial back. Middleton in her wisest time decided to disclose Dr No's name to the General Medical Council. during a uncontrolled rant. 

Of course, because the General Medical Council is relatively dim, they failed to make note of who he was and why he had written an anonymous "opinion" for Kate Middleton's complaint. Kate as usual had lost her temper and ranted at the GMC but did not understand the impact of her rant. I don't blame Kate as she was not to know the ways of the GMC.

The side effect of all this was that Kate's correspondence was inserted into Medical Blogger 2's hearing file. So after a great big panic attack on all fronts including that of Dr No, it was left to me to provide the arguments and to enable an extraction of these documents. Dr No was not convinced I could do it. These damaging documents were simply rants that had nothing to do with the allegations against Medical Blogger 2. This is the kind of thing that could happen to any doctor.

I managed this of course no thanks to Kate or Dr No who were both quite happy to allow Medical Blogger 2 [and Dr No's long term "Friend" ] fry at the General Medical Council. I on the other hand was not in the mood to allow Medical Blogger 2 to fry and indeed she didn't fry but won a reduction of the conditions on her GMC Registration. This is no thanks to Dr No.This is why Medical Blogger 2 who continues to blog has been missed off his list :).

During all this Dr No had withheld the fact that he fraternised with Kate Middleton - so much so that he had written an anonymous opinion for her GMC complaint. Following that, they were both quite happy watch  Medical Blogger 2 in trouble. They all sat there intellectually pontificating while there was an emergency brewing.

Blogger 2 had explained that she could not do a expert opinion for Kate Middleton which is the conversation that ended up at GMC Towers. What is interesting here  - the person who was honest about her dealings, had to deal with fire at the GMC. The person who did most things covertly and was the cause of the disaster - i.e Dr No failed to be frank. Lets face it, given the fragile nature of Kate Middleton, he should not have developed a pointless anonymous report. Despite Dr No's so called intellectual prowess. He is proud of this and gloats about it frequently. No doubt he stands in front of the mirror and crows " Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who is the most intelligent one of them all". Anyhow, as everyone will observe on Kate's blog, Dr No lost the complaint and Neil Marshall threw the complaint out. One had to congratulate Marshie Pops for this decision. He is unaware how much entertainment it caused me not because of Kate [ as it is understandably disappointing] but the knock to Dr No's ego. Apparently, the GMC cannot prove that Dr No wrote the anonymous report :). How amusing is that. All the GMC has to do is used the Medical Act and request the material from Kate Middleton and hey presto :). Anyhow, I won't go into this further because Dr No always frazzles under pressure.

In his post he makes a snide cutting remark about the fact that I blog because I think I am worth it. On the contrary, I blog on Ward 87 for other doctors in a similar predicament to me and to improve my formulation of ideas. The fact that people read this blog is a complete surprise to me as I make no efforts to publicise it. My purely selfish motive is to improve my intellectual capacity and my writing style. It is due to blogging that I have a photographic memory of news events and information. My writing style still requires much work as everyone is aware.

I blog on NHS Exposed Blog for members of the public. Secondly, he makes the point that I am not on the medical register and hence it is safe for me to blog. He fails to point out that I was there before Dr Crippen in the year 2001 when I started http://www.nhsexposed.com. I blogged and wrote all the way through my GMC Registration. When I return back to the Register in the future, I will no doubt continue to blog and write. When I do return to the register, anything I have written while off the register will still be online and I shall be accountable for it. Dr No's version  is really quite simplistic.

That said, blogging is largely an american idea. In this country, most backward NHS Consultants consider it the work of "oddballs" or "weirdos" because they have no concept of the reasons for blogging. In my case, I also blog for historical reasons. I am a great believer in keeping records about the past and I really cannot allow the BMJ or any other boring journal to dictate history because there is the flip side of the coin to consider.Every reader deserves an alternative viewpoint. When I was younger, I felt that we as young doctors were robbed due to the establishment's control of medical publications. Free thought was not part of the establishment's agenda.

As for the General Medical Council, they would have been after my neck whether I blogged or not. It is just annoying for the British Establishment that their most hated whistleblower [ evidenced based] is still annoyingly around. The General Medical Council as the British Establishment [ whether this is the seniors of the profession or freemasonry] have historically disliked being challenged. It is for this reason, the GMC have actively sought to try and control the internet. The internet is a danger to their very existence ie establishment control. It is in the GMC's interests to ensure doctors are not able to think laterally or consider their position in this current world of medicine. This is why there is Common Purpose control of Doctors.net.uk and maximum medical media control through the British Medical Association. These are not conspiracy theories, this is just the way things work in the British Establishment. They have been successful in many ways because compared to the profession in India or any other country, the UK's doctors are relatively quiet, they mumble a lot about bad conditions but in the end they are unable to sustain their onslaught against the establishment. It all comes down to the GMC Registration. It is a sword of damocles. Anyone who is seen to challenge the establishment is essentially taken out. 

By way of an example, I would like to use this memo once issued against me. The author Dr Gerry Murphy is currently due for a GMC hearing for misleading various people [ Sarah Jane McNicholas case]. He writes 

"She is attempting to subvert the authority of individuals like the Postgraduate Dean, Medical Director, Educational Supervisor etc. This authority needs to exist in order for the NHS and Postgraduate Education to function in a proper manner"

" I don't imagine that even if she were struck off, she would stop her activities but it could reduce their credibility". 

The thought processes of the establishment in this memo is rather obvious. It is quite easy really to dismiss me as yet another crackpot on the internet. What is more difficult is to accept that I am a fairly intelligent, knowledgeable and stable person who often makes evidence based statements. I am a scientist afterall. There are bloggers like Dr No who talk and there are bloggers like me who live in the real world and detail their experiences of the medical profession online. Despite Dr No's flaws as a person [and he has many of them much like me], he is an interesting blogger who tries to challenge the establishment from a oblique viewpoint. This is a little different to me who challenges the status quo face on. Some would say [ from a completely society viewpoint] that it has not done me much good - then again, it depends what is important in your life - the trappings of society or to live with some element of freedom. It is a purely personal choice. I certainly never wanted to lead an ordinary life.