Michael Farquhar Profile picture
Sep 20, 2022 14 tweets 9 min read Read on X
I’ve been an advisor to @TheLiminalSpace Night Club project for a while, but this is the first time I’ve had the chance to meet the team in person … great to see the project in reality!

#TheForgottenShift
Night Club is a fantastic project working across industry (plus some NHS trusts, including @GSTTnhs) to emphasise the impact on sleep, sleep deprivation and fatigue of those who work shifts, especially nightshifts …

#TheForgottenShift
Their content won’t be a surprise to you if you follow me, but what @TheLiminalSpace have achieved is how to get information/strategies across, along with top-level commitment to change, that shows what can be done when projects like this are resourced

twitter.com/i/events/13097…
This is a great way to get across the reason behind one of the key risks for shift workers … the increased chance of a serious road traffic accident driving home after a night shift

#FightFatigue #TheForgottenShift
Replies like this are common whether I’m asking them of parents/patients in clinic; or shiftworkers!
Particularly loving the awesome dangling giant inflatable moon, acting as a slight hazard to shipping though! 😂
Main event tonight is Prof Russell Foster talking about the principles of why sleep - and circadian physiology - is so fundamental when thinking about shiftworkers #TheForgottenShift

@OxSCNi
Sarah Douglas, founder of @TheLiminalSpace, talking about essential role nightshift workers play in our 24/7 society, and just how much work goes on at night that we don’t necessarily think of

Much of our economy and society depend on #TheForgottenShift

twitter.com/i/events/86256…
Those of you familiar with working nightshifts will also be familiar with how it makes you feel … but how much of the circadian concepts and physiology that underpin that was ever discussed with you before you started working nights?

#TheForgottenShift

twitter.com/i/events/13199…
Prof Foster emphasising that we need to act now; better for employees health and productivity

He also predicts that given ⬆️ awareness of the costs of ignoring circadian consequences of nightshift work, there will be a LOT more future litigation against employers who DON’T act
There is already case law in England where employers/managers have been held legally accountable for incidents related to fatigue in their employees where they as an employer have not had mitigation strategies in place

#TheForgottenShift
Andy Parry from @coopuk talking about implementing the Night Club project for their night shift workers - the people who keep your supermarket shelves stocked for you in the day - with the additional challenge of doing it just as COVID hit … and how positive an experience it was
Liz Barclay, Small Business Advisor to Government

“If you think you can’t afford to get this right, I’m telling you you can’t afford to get it wrong”

This is the message NHS, currently so often driven from top down by a “do more with less” attitude, needs to put into practice
If you want to learn more about the Night Club project, the team have a pop-up near London Bridge until 25th September as part of @L_D_F - details below

Project webpage is here: night-club.org/free-sleep-sup…

@TheLiminalSpace #TheForgottenShift

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More from @DrMikeFarquhar

Mar 24
My work lanyard gets a lot of comments, and people spotting something on it and asking about it has started a lot of conversations over the years

All of the badges are there for some reason or another ... here's the updated story for them all Image
First the lanyards themselves ... I have two intertwined, an @EvelinaLondon one and a 🏳️‍🌈 one

🏳️‍🌈symbols are important to me (surprise!), and more on that in a sec but ... I also really just like bright colours! Image
Two versions of @rainbownhsbadge, always intended to be a simple clear symbol that I'm a good person to talk to about issues relating to sexuality/gender

The rainbow badge came about partly because of patients starting conversations with me because I was wearing 🏳️‍🌈on my lanyard! Image
Read 29 tweets
Sep 22, 2022
Dr Caroline Johnson has been appointed a minister in Department of Health

@drcarolinej’s voting record, considering her dual role as a consultant paediatrician, is one which has attracted attention in the past
She voted against @AlfDubs motion asking that unaccompanied child refugees stranded in Europe be able to join relatives in the UK
In 2019 she actively voted against NI equal marriage (rather than abstaining as several of her colleagues, such as @theresa_may, did)
Read 6 tweets
Nov 4, 2021
My name’s Mike Farquhar. I’m a consultant paediatrician, specialising in sleep medicine

I have a couple of professional side-interests in parallel to my main job

One is the impact of shiftwork and sleep deprivation on NHS staff

The other is around advocating for LGBT+ people ImageImage
I’ve spoken often about what I’m about to speak about again here; much of the content comes from a plenary talk I gave @RCPCHtweets 2019 Conference

But, for reasons that’ll hopefully become clear, I think it’s important to restate some of this yet again

twitter.com/i/events/11327…
I came out late in life; I grew up in this country at a time when the idea of being gay was viewed with a huge degree of negativity and hostility

At the time that I was realising I was gay, the prevailing cultural idea was that gay men were a threat, specifically to children Image
Read 25 tweets
Nov 1, 2020
Seems a good time to remind yourself that how you are thinking and feeling is likely a NORMAL response to EXTRAORDINARY circumstances

There is support and help out there

It is absolutely OK to not feel OK, but don’t ignore it

@DrShreeUnadkat

blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2020/03/16…
(usual caveat that, because this was published in the BMJ, “healthcare professionals” was changed to “doctors” in the headline but, clearly, this isn’t just about doctors)
And this, more than ever:

“When the pandemic is over, and we return to some sense of “normal” again, we will need an even more vigorous discussion about what safe staffing, safe resources, and a safe model of care really mean in the modern NHS.”
Read 5 tweets
Oct 24, 2020
Whether you’re the parent of a toddler (or an adolescent) or, like @WelshGasDoc, an overtired shiftworker, many people know the frustration of trying to get themselves or someone else to sleep but, no matter how tired they seem, they just won’t do it

Sleep has rhythms Image
How sleepy we feel, and how much we *need* to sleep don’t always match up

The simplest example of this is the post-lunch sleepiness many of us feel

Even if we don’t sleep, we usually feel *less* tired a few hours later when we’ve been awake longer

Weird, huh? Image
Sleep is a complex process, but we can simplify how we think about it into what is called the “two process” model of sleep

This describes sleep/wake as the interaction of two elements: Sleep Pressure (S), and Circadian Rhythm (C) Image
Read 39 tweets
Oct 23, 2020
The @gmcuk annual training survey is out, looking in particular at the impact of COVID19 on medical trainers and trainees

gmc-uk.org/-/media/docume…
As always there is lots of granular data in the report but at the high level:

~25% of trainees & ~20% of trainers score “high” or “very high” on Copenhagen Burnout Inventory questions in the survey

40% of both trainees and trainees describe work as emotionally exhausting
And almost half report feeling tired/fatigued at the end of the day

(though, as always, I think the phrasing of the question “are you exhausted in the morning at the thought of work” is quite an existential way of asking it!)
Read 10 tweets

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