Andrew Fishburn

I think we can change *doctor* shortage to health care prof shortage. 6% vacancy rate in Nursing and Midwifery & that's before counting frozen posts, 4.4% vacancy rate in medical posts.

@TJCoats Congratulations, Prof, amazing feat!

On my last working day it seems that life comes full circle. 40 years ago I sat next to this grandfather clock waiting to be interviewed in the Board Room for my first job. Today I pass the same clock on my last day in the NHS, stop and reflect.

@bmj_latest How long before AI replaces many posts in radiology?

The relentless rises in radiology workloads cannot be solved by the radiology department alone. Sustainable, long term solutions must involve those who refer patients to radiologists, writes Giles Maskell bmj.com/content/392/bm…

That's good. Nurses and health care staff are never exposed to abuse and intimidation. I guess that's why we were given 3.3%

@MENnewsdesk "The definition of nursing is changing!& Doctors feel threatened" is probably a better headline.

Nurses can do most of doctors jobs with 'little to no difference', report finds manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/n…

@Aku_700 Made me weep. Thanks.

I own a small bakery. We aren’t famous, but we pay the bills. Last Tuesday, a woman came in. She was gripping her purse so tight her knuckles were white. She looked at the display case for a long time—too long. She pointed to the smallest plain vanilla cupcake we had. 'Just that one, please,' she whispered. 'Could you… could you put a tiny candle on it? It’s my daughter’s 6th birthday.' I looked at her shoes. They were wet. It was raining outside, and she had walked here. I looked at her eyes. Red-rimmed. I knew that look. It’s the look of a parent who has to choose between rent and a party. 'I’m sorry,' I said, putting on my best acting face. 'I actually have a huge problem. See this 8-inch chocolate cake with the unicorn frosting?' She looked at the expensive cake on the counter. 'My new decorator messed it up,' I lied. 'The icing is… uh… uneven. I can’t sell it. I was about to throw it in the trash. Would you do me a favor and take it off my hands? No charge. It saves me the guilt of wasting food.' She stared at me. She knew. The icing was perfect. She started to cry, right there in front of the croissant tray. 'Are you sure?' she asked. 'Please,' I insisted. 'You’re doing me a favor.' She walked out with a cake that would have cost $65, holding it like it was gold. Yesterday, I found a card slid under my door. It was a drawing from a 6-year-old girl. A unicorn with a big smile. And in wobbly crayon letters: 'Thank you for making my mommy happy.' Best profit I’ve made all year. Credit:- @Reform_West

@MrPitbull07 Wrong. Totally wrong. There's no cardboard box. Bring a couple of plastic bags, there's a good boy ...

I resigned today. "I found a better opportunity," I told my boss. "Okay," he said. "But per your contract, your notice period is 90 days." "90 days?" "Yes. You have to stay for 3 months to transfer knowledge." But when they fired my colleague last week? He had 10 minutes. Security watched him pack his box. They escorted him out like a criminal. When we leave, we owe them a fiscal quarter of our lives. When they leave us, they owe us a cardboard box. Loyalty is a contract that only binds the employee.

@SophieMcDLaw Don't be silly. If we did have your wish list we couldn't have socialism for the very rich who pay less tax (as a % of income) than the good folk who clean their multiple extravagant homes.

@MedRegoncall1 "Just qualified". Perhaps be a nurse before focusing on conquering the world. Just saying.

🏴‍☠️ This is the value of nursing as a profession these days: Just qualified as a nurse and unsure if to do ACP or Graduate entry medicine. ⭕️ A Couple of ACPs I spoke to said they do all things even the consultants do including even surgery in ENT but they just don't get the same wages. ⭕️ ACP is around 60k whereas eventually reaching consultant level is 140k. ⭕️ It's not about the money but you wouldn't have to work full time so would be less stressed overall on higher pay. Absolutely shambolic.

I'm fairly sure it's not just doctor's posts being frozen. And not just cancer units are affected. theguardian.com/society/2026/f…

The combined tuition fees of the entire Question Time panel would not cover my cost for 1 year of uni. Is that fair?

@caspertown42 At least some of the responsibility for Trust's failing to value the CNS role is down to ourselves - £ income is the only value that many managers value. Clinical activity in nurse led clinics helps, in part, to reinforce that value in £.

But we have seen a reduction in the cancer CNS WF - we have seen down banding in the CNS WF - we have seen difficulty to recruit - we have seen endless quality / finance reviews of the CNS role so how will we deal with the increased📈 referrals and a specialist nursing WF 📉

24 hours from the publication of the 2026 NHS cancer plan seriously hoping that cancer clinical nurses specialists get their own chapter or at least a couple of pages - #CNSValue nurse specialists advanced practice - @alisonleary1 @claire_taylor22 @shiv_smith @gbtpo

@caspertown42 @alisonleary1 @claire_taylor22 @shiv_smith @gbtpo In head & neck cancer we work extremely closely with SLT and Dietetics - it would have been good to recognise not only CNS / Advanced Practice (without which the plan's targets will not be met) but also our AHP colleagues.

@HardyNoon @paullewismoney @nickhillman @HEPI_news @Moneybox @BBCRadio4 I thought the student loans portfolio had largely been sold off to the financial industry hence the students being used as a cash cow - a life long debt where interest is paid throughout is stuff of the financial industry dreams.

@paullewismoney @nickhillman @HEPI_news @Moneybox @BBCRadio4 It’s not about the 9%. The issue is the high and fluctuating interest charged to the outstanding amount. The government has no plan to help as it needs this debt to balance their cooked books.

Were millions of graduates mis-sold their student loans? A question many are asking as they discover that the extra 9% tax on their income doesn't even cover the interest that's added each year to their debt, with @nickhillman boss of @HEPI_News on @Moneybox noon @BBCRadio4

@paullewismoney @nickhillman @HEPI_news @Moneybox @BBCRadio4 Yes.

The lifelong burden of student loans that ENTRENCHES 👉inequality A forgotten cohort encouraged into higher education in name of social mobility + left with a lifelong financial burden ⁦@alisonleary1⁩ ⁦@LynchLainey⁩ ⁦@NanaVupNorth⁩ theguardian.com/money/2026/jan…

Nigel Farage has kindly asked we stop sharing this video of him talking about why we should privatise the NHS 💙 You know what to do!

@campbellclaret Please get into No 10 Alastair and sort out their comms please

ReformUK A retirement home for right wing Tories who f—-ed the country Led by a grifter who loves nothing more than loving Donald Trump If we can’t beat this lot we might as well all go home

@TomBaldwin66 @AndyBurnhamGM I'm sure @AndyBurnhamGM will have the support and respect of all of us in GM whatever he decides - he's been a fantastic Mayor who gets things done. I'm sure he'd be the same as PM.

I’ve always liked @AndyBurnhamGM but the prospect of him returning to Westminster has already added to inward-looking psychodrama that does no one any good. And an unnecessary by-election for Mayor of Manchester might well have resulted in long term damage to his reputation too.