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Friday, January 20, 2017

Locum work at Bassetlaw District General Hospital

For the Christmas holidays, I chose to work this year. I secured a rather good hourly rate and so went to work at the BDGH located in British midlands area of Doncaster. I would do 2 long days - on the 24th and the 25th of December, and a night duty on the 26th night. I reached only around 11 a.m. on the 24th, as Bassetlaw, located in Worksop town, is over three and a half hours by train from my place in Blackpool. I caught the first train from Blackpool to Manchester Victoria at 06.38 a.m. From there to Man Piccadilly, and from Picadilly to Sheffield took nearly one and a half hours. The final leg was a train to Lincoln, which took me to Worksop. There, a short walk later, I was at the bus stand where I caught a 22 no bus to the hospital, a mere mile away. Arriving at the main reception, I was asked to contact the security for my accommodation keys and directions. I found my way to Cochran lodge for accommodation. There are three security gates with number pads to reach the floor where rooms are located. You then open your room with a traditional key.

My first impression of the accommodation was very positive. The room was large, with an attached bathroom. There was a tea-maker, a mini-fridge, and not one, but two almirahs -albeit without any hangars! The study table and chair were utilitarian and the bed was quite comfortable. Additionally, the room had a full-length wall mirror, a wall bookcase, an easy chair and good illumination. Outside, there was access to a large common kitchen, a TV viewing area (lounge) and a pool table as well. Impressive.

I returned to the hospital and went to the Paediatric department to commence my first shift. The ward is quite spacious and attractive. I would learn later that the department itself is in a process of shutting down its admission services from February next year and will continue to function only as an out-patient assessment unit from then onwards. Currently, it is sanctioned to accept no more than 6 patients on the admission roster. It takes patients for assessment only from around 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. Outside these hours, it compulsorily refers all patients to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, its parent organisation. The DRI and the BDGH are part of the Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust.

There was minimal work as most work is now shifted to DRI. However, the staff was very friendly and cooperative with me. All in all, I had a good time. In fact, on Christmas day, they even served a free Christmas lunch; the Indian-origin registrar made a unique Tamilian gravy from pre-assembled ingredients and I had that with rice. It was very delicious.

During my night duty, I even had time to doze off in one of the empty rooms at the back. To summarise, therefore, no issues. I had a good time. 

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