Been meaning to go to the Chalke history festival for some time - just booked weekend ticket for next year on the grounds that if it is in the diary I will get there.

One fo the best series ever made and so much of its time.

archivetvmusings@archivetvmusings.bsky.social · 6d ago

The first episode of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was originally broadcast on this day in 1979. This BBC2 screening was swiftly followed by a two part omnibus repeat on BBC1 during Christmas 1979.

These volunters and their families are probably terrified. What is being done to protect them?

Saul Staniforth@saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 6d ago

"The RNLI has announced a review of its security procedures to ensure the safety of its volunteers after anti migrant protests.. at the weekend. Some crew members had their photos and names shared on social media in posts accusing them of treason"

I was horrified by the tone of this article. It was like arguing the Kray twins were okay really because they loved their mum. I'm a subscriber but not for much longer @thetimes.com

Mic Wright@brokenbottleboy.bsky.social · last wk.

The Times has run a story this morning about how ‘polite’ the masked men in Dover were to three white ladies on a train. Propaganda in its clumsiest form.

NHS finances in Kent and Medway are in a dire state....and could get worse. www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-...

Just told my daughter I am going to a talk by Rowan Atkinson on Monday when I meant Rowan Williams. Not an easy mistake to make......

Not to mention the other pension schemes administered by Capita where people had their personal details accessed in a cyberhack.

Lewis Baston@lewisbaston.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Capita civil service pension fiasco should be a much bigger scandal than it seems to be. There are people leaving work next week who won’t be paid their pensions as entitled and will have to claim Universal Credit.

Very helpful article for anyone who travels to high altitudes or doctors who advise them.

The BMJ@bmj.com · 2w ago

Altitude illness is potentially life threatening; however, it is preventable and manageable with adequate pre-travel planning and preparation. How should doctors advise patients?

'Bring back premature death, lung damage in children and more hospital admissions' is quite the bold campaign slogan.

This explains how some of the issues in the NHS Allliance's report on ADHD and autism services is affecting one ICB. www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-...

ICB with 30-fold increase in neurodiversity spend now paying 42 private providers

An integrated care board which has seen the amount it spends on autism and ADHD care increase 30-fold in three years is set to bust its budget again.

hsj.co.uk

13,000 children under the age of 5 in Rotherham received a book every month because Dolly Parton was a real one. RIP

Dolly Parton sends books to Rotherham

A reading scheme developed by the US country singer Dolly Parton is a proving a big hit in the UK

theguardian.com

No, I have not just used some hibiscrub prescribed for a cat to clean the remains of an infected insect bite on my arm. That would be just silly.

It's hard not to believe the BBC is softening us up for a Reform government by telling us it is going to happen.

DDominic Minghella@dminghella.bsky.social · 3w ago

Precision matters, especially in headlines, especially on the BBC.

Just upgraded my Bodleian Library access rights (can now order special collections) and slightly disappointed I did not have to swear the oath not to "mark, deface or injure" books or start fires in the library again.

Hate to blow my own trumpet but Emily Townsend and myself have been shortlisted for a Medical Journalists Association award for our work on home births in HSJ. www.hsj.co.uk/patient-safe... (paywalled - sorry!).

Revealed: Urgent review ordered after deaths in fragile maternity services

NHS England has ordered trusts to "urgently" review their home birth services, it has emerged - as an HSJ investigation reveals widespread fragility and safety risks.

hsj.co.uk

The Human Tissue Authority started doing unannounced inspections of hospital mortuaries a couple of years back. It has led to a massive increase in the number of "shortfalls" found per inspection.

One time I was working in the gallery of Duke Humfrey’s and a bat flew by and I had no idea what to do and didn’t want to leave my desk so I @‘d the Bodleian and ten minutes later I saw a porter sprint past, out of breath, with a butterfly net

The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL)@themerl.bsky.social · 4w ago

Museums pro tip: Want to know if there's a bat flying around your galleries? Simply listen to all the visitors saying "there is a bat flying around the galleries."

29th August 1985 - An excited Michael Fish gets to deploy the rarely seen red number as the temperature gets up to an incredible 26 degrees in London!

Oh. He had been invited to talk at an event in Oxford next month about the 3.5 year fiasco of the Botley rail bridge. Guess he won't be coming then.

But Lime should surely know where it's bikes were and who hired them?

Jim Waterson@jim.londoncentric.media · last mo.

Exciting new London bike theft technique just experienced! My 200kg family ebike was securely locked to a tall metal pole which had a big parking restriction sign at the top. Three thieves turned up on Lime bikes with chairs, removed parking sign, then lifted bike 2.5metres over top of pole. Genius.

Any maternity managers out there who fancy a quick (and possibly anonymous) chat about how services can be improved? DMs open.

Delightful swin outside this morning with parakeets flying overhead. Exotic holiday? No, North Oxford.

BBC actually said "alleged asylum seekers" this morning.

I Am Incorrigible@imincorrigible.bsky.social · last mo.

This is precisely how the Overton Window moves. Not through dramatic moments. Through a thousand small normalising decisions by mainstream broadcasters.

Daughter has just overheard a shopkeeper and shopper having a rant about migrants (usual bile and half-truths) which ended with one of them saying "It's so bad I'm emigrating to New Zealand."

Wilson's holiday home on Scilly. Can you imagine any UK PM staying in such a modest place today? www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

Harold Wilson's Isles of Scilly holiday home for sale

The three-bedroom bungalow on the Isles of Scilly was built for the Labour prime minister 60 years ago.

bbc.co.uk

Stephen McBarron@stevemc.bsky.social · last mo.

A Prime Minister on holiday 1970s style (more innocent times those)! #bbcpm

Terrible but surely pilots should have regular refresher sessions and simulation in reverting to older technology. Just as the NHS should have training and plans for using paper when computer systems collapse or are hacked....

Justin Ling@justinling.ca · last mo.

Holy shit. www.wired.com/story/a-civi...

In April @NHSEngland refused my request for education quality assurance reports (which they used to publish monthly and look at experience of docs and other staff in training) on the grounds they were intended for future publication. Guess how many they have published since? 0

I'm supposed to be working part time at 80% because of ongoing health conditions, and am being paid as such. My average working hours for the next four months are 36.4 hours/week. That is considered part time for a doctor. The full time for AfC staff is between 36-37.5 hours/week.

Any maternity managers on here who fancy a quick chat about what it is like working in such a heavily scrutinised area? Can be anonymous. DMs open.

What we put resident doctors through in the name of "training"......

Russell 🏳️‍🌈@medicrussell.bsky.social · last mo.

Finished my latest rotation/job, and with that a year or 2.5 - 3 hour round trip commutes is done. I can’t begin to describe how lovely it’s going to be to commute for about an hour a day instead. Good lord. I’m gonna do so much gym and running.