Our HOD made all the senior doctors do a survey a few weeks ago, to get our input on how well we think the department is functioning.
It was quite a time commitment, as there were dozens of detailed questions in there, but the response rate was very good, nonetheless. As a scheduler, I’m an associate member of the executive branch of the department, which meant I got to see the unexpurgated version of all the replies. In there I was astounded to find that many people still miss my newsletter editorials, well over a year since I “voluntarily” stopped doing them. I was much gratified by this, and it led me to think, would I start doing them again if asked? I put it to Simon, who reminded me of how much work it used to be for me to do them. I also came across this article, which seemed to be a sign.
I’d like to think that my editorials were nowhere near as ill judged as this anaesthetist’s self published book, but am I 100% sure of that? I can think of one or two examples that must have skirted pretty close to the line. Plus, isn’t this exactly why I was encouraged to resign by my boss? It was pretty clear to me at the time that she wasn’t the only one reading my editorials with disquiet. In the end, even though I enjoyed the job, I think the time was right to step away. The funny thing was, as editor I oversaw the reprinting of extracts from a version of the department newsletter that was printed in the nineties, and that was way more dodgy, and led to multiple complaints. So, what’s the moral here? Are the woke minority ruining it for the rest of us? I couldn’t possibly comment, but I’m glad to be reduced to looking on from the safety of the sidelines.