Bill Whitehead

@doctor_oxford @wrexhamrob @ArthurRankHouse @Channel4News Is the care of the dying not a core NHS function? If we cannot treat the dying with care, compassion and competence what the hell is the NHS for?

This is Trevor Fisher, an inpatient in @ArthurRankHouse in Cambridgeshire, speaking to @Channel4News this week. I am a palliative care specialist and Trevor’s interview has devastated me. His hospice has just found out that in 6 months, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust will withdraw its £800k funding. This means that 9 of the hospice’s 16 beds will close, denying patients like Trevor the precious end-of-life care they need. In total, 200 people a year in Cambridgeshire will now be forced to die in an overcrowded hospital instead of the hospice environment they so longed for. Some will doubtless end up dying on trolleys in corridors - we witness this far too often, these days & I can tell you, it is barbaric. @CUH_NHS says it has made this “very difficult decision” following a “value for money assessment” - confirming what I have long known as a doctor, that too often, patients with terminal illnesses are treated as second class citizens whose lives simply don’t matter as much as other people's. Yet the real responsibility here lies not with the NHS trust but with the current government, who is forcing the NHS nationwide to cut clinical services in order to meet impossible “efficiency savings” (what weasel words those are). These cuts were necessary, say @CUH_NHS, “in order to maintain core services within a reduced budget” - that is to say, the reduced budget they are now receiving from this government. So this is on you, @wesstreeting, and on you @UKLabour. You've chosen to do this & now patients like Trevor must live - and die - with your choices. I believe that the measure of a civilised country is how well it cares for its most vulnerable members. The difference between politicians and me is that I look the palliative care patients they are failing in the eye. So I will put it to you directly, Mr Streeting. We are still a rich country capable of affording decent, humane palliative care for all. Do you really care so little for dying people that you are happy to fail them on your watch? Thank you @channel4news for covering this story. #palliativecare #hospicecare #NHS

@jabberwock951 Don’t really see the problem. They’ve explained their health beliefs, all you have to do is explore how it’s affecting them, gather a bit more information, share your thoughts and come up with a plan

Which isn't to say you can't have your own ideas and put them forward. But yes, you can't come in and reel off a diagnosis and treatment plan and expect to avoid starting with basic principles like 'my head hurts'. It's how we tell the migraines from the brain tumours.

I'm not gonna lie, it is frustrating when you ask a patient what's wrong and they just give you a diagnosis. Like "I have a chest infection". OK, you're probably right but I need to know your symptoms to see if I agree with that diagnosis. I can't just take your word for it.

@DocPriyamMD How old is he? What is his usual performance status? Does he have an advance directive? Being a doctor is much more than having an expert grasp on pathophysiology and therapeutics. It’s not all about the pump, it’s about the person

A 1st-year resident ran up to me during my night shift, looking completely pale. "Sir, we have a problem in Bed 4. I don’t know what to give first." The Patient: 1. Known Case of Heart Failure. 2. Gasping for air, lungs full of crepitations. 3. JVP hitting the jawline. 4. Grade 4 pitting edema (legs look like they are about to burst). The Catch: I looked at the monitor. BP was 70/40 mmHg. The junior whispered: "Sir, the textbooks say Diurese the 'Wet' patients, but the ACLS says Fluid bolus for Hypotension. If I give Lasix, his BP hits zero. If I give Fluids, he drowns in front of us. What do I do?" I replied....

Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez: "Trump is someone who will set the world on fire and then blame smoke caused by that. He has been wrong for 18 days of war. I urge everyone to call him out" Retweet if you agree with Spain Prime Minister.

@MatthewPFirth I don’t support abortion up to term, but I do support democracy. Why do we have bishops involved in making law? You have no democratic mandate, maybe you should concentrate on sorting out your own messed up churches

Every bishop with a seat in the House of Lords is morally obliged to be personally present there on Wednesday to vote against abortion up to birth, save for illness or bereavement etc.

@IBallantyn @johnredwood And don’t forget the conservatives facilitating the closure of shipyards, thus making it much harder to build warships at pace

@johnredwood Why did succesive governments ruin the Royal Navy and when will their ministers be held to account? And why didn't MPs fight harder to prevent it when the wrecking ball was being wielded? Asking for a nation whose defences have been stripped away and only now realises.

When will there be UK naval ships to help keep our personnel and commerce safe in the Middle East? Isn’t that what we have a navy for ?

@kiityc @rheumipainmask @Parody_RCGP But you are trained to be a generalist, make a reasonable assessment of their physical and mental health in a social context and then give appropriate advice. Abdication of responsibility in a widening number of areas makes GP bashing easier for those who want to see its demise.

@Parody_RCGP I am neither trained nor indemnified to provide a specialist occupational health assessment. If a patient tells me they are unfit to work, I believe them. The State or their Employer can formally assess their fitness by commissioning an appropriately trained person to do so.

Yep. Why deal with the complaints when every bit of the system is out to screw you. "May be fit" for the win!

@mbga_uk I was a middle class white Anglican GP. On home visits I often asked for any dogs to be placed in another room. It is difficult to fully assess and help someone when there are potentially noisy or aggressive interruptions. Show carers some respect.

Yesterday a nurse home visit was arranged to go to my elderly mothers home, while there visiting, the nurse arrived a Muslim woman who asked me to put my dogs away, as she did not like dogs. I told her, if you don't like dogs then leave & go send out a Nurse who does. Tough.

@Mr_Andrew_Fox I’m no strategist, but keeping our eye on what’s happening in the Baltic seems pretty sensible at present

Farage has been out in Mar-a-Lago and got his tweet from Trump, so Reform are chirping up. This war is deeply unpopular in Britain, and staying out is 100% the right move. Reform do nothing but denigrate and run down our great country for votes. Plastic patriotism.

@arthistorynews Sedate pueri are my expected next words

Salve.

@JohnHealey_MP @DefenceHQ @RAFAkrotiri Sadly, they are embarrassed by you

@DrGoblin3 Enjoy what you’re good at, employ people to feed the beast the shit they want and drop in the odd letter pointing out how the system prevents you from delivering the care that you are required to provide

Turns out I’m really good at medicine, risk management and explaining stuff to people. But I’m shit at dealing with arseholes, entitled twats and crap colleagues. What should I do instead of be a GP?

@RoyalNavy @hms_tyne @815NAS Piss poor timing

Always watching, always protecting... #RoyalNavy patrol ship @hms_tyne and Wildcat helicopters from @815NAS intercepted two sanctioned Russian cargo ships and their escorting warships in UK waters. Read more: royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2026/marc…

@LivEchonews What an incredibly misleading headline which translates to ‘ don’t bother opening headlines from the Liverpool Echo’

@DrLindaDykes Agree entirely, there is good evidence that early involvement of infectious disease consultant improves survival in life threatening infections

Being back on Twitter temporarily isn't good for my blood pressure. Infectious Diseases is literally one of the specialties where very experienced doctors in most other specialties get stuck and need to "phone a friend" and no, a PA will absolutely NOT do.

Time to RT this ol' classic

@StarlingBank systems so slow, clunky and unhelpful that I will empty my account when, eventually, I regain access to my card.

@OtherHalfOrg That he was an expert in neurosurgery does not make him an expert in the care of the dying, medical ethics or the broader social issues around end of life.

A must-listen. Henry Marsh is a highly regarded surgeon, and campaigner for assisted death. On coercion into death he has said: "Even if a few grannies get bullied into it, isn't that a price worth paying for all the people who could die with dignity?"

🟥 WOW ... 🇬🇱 🇩🇰 This defiance and solidarity video for Greenland is EPIC. 👌🏼