Relax

Of all the reports I have come across in thirty five years in the NHS this is my favourite. Forty pages, glossy and professional, quantitative and qualitative research, it claims that knitting can do everything from reducing obesity to improving mental health And I'm sure they are right. 

I showed it to one of my medical colleagues. "Yes that's all very good" she said "but I keep getting little old ladies in my surgery with Repetitive Strain Injury from overdoing it." And another one chipped in saying that "it can play havoc with the articular disc of the distal radioulnar joint". Before I know it I have half a dozen doctors going on about knitting as if it is an extreme sport that is likely to land you in A&E. 

What was it George Bernard Shaw said? All professions are a conspiracy against the laity ... If there had been a copper in the room he would probably have had stories of gang warfare amongst old ladies in West Ewell attacking each other with their knitting needles...

I bought it up in our monthly meeting with all the docs as an urgent matter of any other business but just got patronised. All I wanted was a task and finish group and a bit of project management to implement it. And I'm not unrealistic. I know we can't fund everything at once and the crochet elements would have to wait ..

As for the rest: trying to keep busy tonight and not think about the you know what. Did cast my vote on the way into work, in fact was in the queue with TSM waiting for the polling station to open at 7am. It's only a gesture in this part of the world but you have to do your democratic duty ... Come what may - hopefully not May - tomorrow is another day and I shall think about how I can become active and fight the good fight in this crazy world...