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Colin Dunkley

@drcolindunkley.bsky.social
518 followers 282 following 225 posts

#apaediatriclife reflections! | Children seen & heard...better outcomes | More baking | Consultant Paediatrician Sherwood Forest | Epilepsy12 Lead | BPNA course content Mx | Views own

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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
My reflections… 1. Change in the tech space can be both frustrating and transformative! 2. Good tech needs to make the ‘right thing to the do’, the easiest, most intuitive & quickest thing to do? 3. Meanwhile…by my office, our hospital lift… #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
My reflections… 1. I help many young people & families weigh up different risks? 2. There’s science & nuance, usually 1 trade’s off of another, some residual risk is usually ‘best’! 3. Here in Spain is ‘Fire Bull’…a man wrapped in fireworks running at cheering children!🐂🧨 Amazing! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
My reflections… 1. Often we work in spaces without realising there are walls & ceilings! 2. Thinking this week about what impacting outside hospital & between appts looks like (…where health really lives!) 3. This drawing in my clinic caught my eye…now to turn things inside-out!!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
My reflections… 1. I avoid flying if I can, this trip to Spain my wife flew & I went by train! 2. Who knew…we became quite competitive & it soon turned into a race!(London King’s Cross to Hotel reception) 3. I lost! (by 5 minutes!) #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
My reflections… 1. Working with children often catches you off guard?! 2.Today this was this lovely picture presented to me with mischievous aplomb ! 3. You’re then left wondering…are you trying to tell me something?!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
My reflections… 1. Diagnosis would be much easier if diseases came in the same shape & pointing in the same direction?! 2. Often there’s also things that obscure or move & then there’s knowing how sure you are! 3. Here’s a little bird spotting?! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
My reflections… 1. Sometimes you have to shed something to move forward?! 2. New dictation platform, rain fall, holiday packing & a tableside haircut proving cathartic this week! 3. As always…a ‘quarterly’ 7 top, 4 sides #wifecut! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My reflections… 1. DON’T READ THIS!…It creates conflict when you’re told of a thing ☀️…then not to look! 🙈 2. My wife saved the day…”it’s much better in the back garden…with a glass of wine”! 3. Later I stared intently at this beauty…these should be renamed an ‘eclipse flower’?! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
My reflections… 1. “I had a little nut tree…” 2. I planted it in 2021 in a public field as little more than ‘a twig with potential’! I’ve been nervously willing it on since with weeding and shielding…Suddenly it seems like a walnut tree! 3. If only the fruit came up front?! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
My reflections… 1. There is interest in epilepsy circles around the +ve effect of this piece 🎶 by Mozart on the brain?🧠 2. I’ve begun to learn it! 3. Amongst the other research questions, why does it have to be so difficult, need to be a duet…& particularly involve 2 pianos! 🎹 🎹 #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
My reflections… 1. With seizures, 2 things can look similar, but be very different! 2. These are sea whelks with mayonnaise…NOT snails with garlic butter! A relief as I’ve vowed never to eat snails!! 3. The waitress was not impressed with my “Escargot de la mer?” line of enquiry! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
My reflections… 1. Often in health, I see unhelpful compartmentalisation between ages & demographics? 2. I love the age mixing I see here in Italy! 3. This festival caught my eye, specifically to create activities bridging the generations! (It’s too hot to do anything though!) #apaediatrclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
My reflections… 1. I try each Friday ~5pm to post…a juxtaposition of life ‘in & out’ of work! 2. I like the way a reflection signals a border between what’s passed & what’s next! 3. It’s a sign of a good holiday when you realise over a late vin santo you’ve forgotten to post!? #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
My reflections… 1. Growing up in Yorkshire, I love a dry stone wall!! 2. Sometimes things go together ‘cause they’re meant to…Sometimes things that aren’t meant to, still go together. 3. Whatever your shape & size (I’m definitely a misfit!), there’s a way to join up! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
My reflections… 1. An ambition & cadence realised this week, albeit taking 40yrs! 2. My brother & I were reminiscing about winning a competition in our teens, then playing the Royal Festival Hall! 3. This week heard one of my cello heroes, Steven Isserlis, at the same Southbank! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
My reflections… 1. Capturing experience & outcomes is so important to improve care. 2. Needs to be simple, integrated, qualitative & quantitative, meaningful, diverse in its reach…& responded to! 3. My youngest had no trouble giving this feedback! (particularly when I’m paying!) #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
My reflections… 1. Sometimes you need to take a helicopter 🚁view? 2. Sometimes you need to go higher and take a satellite 🛰️ view…or even an intergalactic 🚀view!! 3. Sometimes you need to eat the blue sweets! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
My reflections… 1. Lovely bake ‘n’ bring ‘n’ share lunch this week with @rcpch.bsky.social audit teams! 2. Obviously there was lots of analysis, evaluation and appreciation! 3. Sometimes you can have 2 types of ‘best practice’?!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
My reflections… 1. There can be an unspoken undertone in teams (and relationships!) as to who is ‘working the hardest’?! 2. In our epilepsy team we decided to settle this…once and for all…by sharing the size of our ‘black books’! 3. It didn’t go so well for me!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
My reflections… 1. These are my least favourite socks, I had none others left to wear! 2. No-one ever notices my socks! 3. A teenager ‘high-fived me’ in clinic for the “cool sheep socks!” Do I need to rethink my style radar?! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
My reflections… 1. I climbed a hill… 2. I found this. 3. That’s it! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
My reflections… 1. Usually when flitting around the UK there’s some type of compromise or something missed! 2. This week has been a yo-yo between Nottingham & Glasgow! 3. Magically I’ve managed to sandwich the course I was attending between gigs in both locations!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
My reflections… 1. There’s so much hidden complexity in health, you never know quite what’s coming & when! 2. It’s lovely to work in an NHS community that’s pushing in the best of directions! 3. A bag of rhubarb (& a successful business case) are welcome surprises this week #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
My reflections… 1. Some things happen naturally…everything slots into place! 2. Other things take toil, mistakes, retrying, pushing towards something that somehow shouldn’t work?! 3. Journeying to play cello in folk session in County Clare, Ireland…is definitely the latter! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
My reflections… 1. Talk of new buildings opened, children finding their voice & identity, singing Scottish folk songs with my oldest! 2. …all had this little flower in their descriptions! 3. I love seeing things blossom! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
My reflections… 1. I’ve been ‘smoke-testing’ apparently this week! 2. Is a new thing for me…can we see health data from ‘your bubble’ securely flow to ‘my bubble’? 3. I’m here for this kind of smokin’! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
My reflections… 1. I’m trying to collect patient feedback in clinic for my appraisal! 2. I keep forgetting to ask…or the signal for the QR code doesn’t work! 3. …I’m always happy for this type of 1 star! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
My reflections… 1. When our daughters were little, their grandpa built them a ‘secret den’ in the garage loft! 2. It’s small, oddly shaped & a bit inaccessible…we’ve kept it…just in case?! 3. Had the best of weeks, kindness, moving forwards, new connections…now I need to hide!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
My reflections… 1. I’ve spent my whole career colouring in to-do list boxes! 2. I’ve been putting off a chore for too long, lots off tricky little steps, no-one really was going to see my toil & progress! 3. I think only a paediatrician would do this??!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
My reflections… 1. I think coffee must have become my currency! 2. This was a thankyou 18g dose from my youngest after I paid for her car repair (Colombian, natural, jammy dodger notes)! 3. This is going to have to be a good cup! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
My reflections… 1. My favourite biscuits were Le Petit Beurre! 2. Since Christmas, I was ‘introduced’ to Pepparkakor, a thin spicy Scandinavian number! 3. The vast tin, with inevitable brokenness, has become their appeal…I’ve integrated their consumption into my to-do list! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
My reflections 1. I live via 3 bags! 2. My ‘work bag’, my (going away) suitcase & my ‘qualy bag’ (quality of life bag…drip coffee, travel spices, paracetamol, sunglasses, frisbee, waterproofs etc!) 3. If I’ve got my ‘qualy bag’ I know I’ll be ok! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
My reflections… 1. Where are all the Littmann stethoscopes? 2. I remember buying my 1st as 3rd yr med student. Lost a few, including lovely children’s one; weirdly accumulate only generics since!!! 3. They’re built to last…is there someone somewhere with thousands of Littmanns??! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
My reflections… 1. I don’t often make single yes/no diagnoses…they are often multi-layered & impact to varying degrees! 2. Many light-bulbs means you don’t really get that light-bulb moment! 3.…anyway this didn’t ‘enlighten’ my daughter’s bedroom. “So we need an electrician dad?!” #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
My reflections… 1. I like to have something to look forward to at the weekend (ie putting my feet up!) 2.Today my youngest persuaded me to ‘look forward’ to help run double Mmacaron market stalls!! 3. A 2nd market for my 2nd daughter in 2nd rate weather is now my 2nd best option!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
My reflections… 1. Presenting multi-centre epilepsy improvement in Glasgow & v aware numbers not always what seem! 2. Only 34 tables at event (no table 13!) 3. This Scottish ‘single’ (25ml) had to become a ‘double’ (50ml) so it could count at least as Irish ‘single’?!! (Also 35!!) #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
It’s a bit drizzly in Glasgow, but our “15 years of Epilepsy12” poster, is gradually getting to closer to our “20 years of BPNA PET” celebration!!
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
My reflections… 1. One thing leads to another!? 2. Presenting ‘common epilepsies’ in Gatwick led to…transition, mental health, trains to Spain, ambient AI, politics of neuronal discharges, Prodigy firestarter! 3. Travelling from one thing to another is more complicated! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
My reflections… 1. Not everything needs fixing?! 2. I have a favourite armchair; It’s comfy, hard to get out of and no-one else sits in it! 3. I’m torn as to whether mending it is a good idea! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
My reflections… 1. I’m still not ‘out of Christmas’?! 2. I’ve been puzzling whether 1 triangle* of a large @Toblerone is equivalent to a whole small @Toblerone! 3. …pondering 1 triangle at a time! #apaediatriclife (*weirdly a patient this week said “square of Toblerone!”)
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
My reflections... 1. The woman at the till today said my superfood salad wouldn't scan was because the barcode was 'squooshed!' 2. This is my favourite new word this year! 3. This yearly montage shows how I have 'squooshed' my work life imbalance for 2025! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
My reflections… 1. There’s so much variation in “what’s right” at Christmas…an evolving complex blend of localisation, continuity and ‘consensus’! 2. I ‘must do’ fondant, my mum ‘always’ formed snowy peaks with royal. 3. Santa was this year’s first casualty! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
“Christmas on a stick!” Sausage, bacon rolls, turkey, maple-glazed veg, port dipping gravy. Bit all over the place this Christmas, so this was 60 mins tops!!
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Children’s Epilepsy Specialist Nurse post, Band 6 out for advert in Derby 👀 www.jobs.nhs.uk/candidate/jo...
jobs.nhs.uk
Job Advert
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 19/12/2025
My reflections… 1. Some mornings it’s hard to get started?! 2. Can’t find my glasses, cough is bad in the cold, windscreen needs de-icing, still dark! 3. A morning like this makes me thankful! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
My reflections… 1. Spot my mistake?! 2. I was explaining childhood absence epilepsy to a child. “5, 6, 7, 8 years may be typical starting ages…” 3. The child made a strange noise, then a flurry of up & down non-synchronous waves of both arms, palms upwards!! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
My reflections… 1. A bit under the weather this week! 2. Coincidentally discussing work on seasonal influences on seizures and epilepsies, whilst fighting my own viruses! 3. Anyway a big chicken pie turned out to be my main ‘flu-busting’ intervention! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
My reflections… 1. I’m not particularly good at high drama! 2. I prefer to stand back, process, reflect! 3. This is how I’m planning to watch all episodes of Stranger Things!? #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
My reflections… 1. My mum’s not well these days…it’s hard to find common ground when chatting! 2. We managed to spend a good 1/2 hour this week painting leaves (& ourselves!) 3. It’s humbling to find ‘play’ can be so vital in our autumn as in our childhood?! #apaediatriclife
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Colin Dunkley @drcolindunkley.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
My reflections… 1. I am always being left messages…emails, post-its, voicemails… 2. Some are asks, some are for information, some are ‘now it’s your problem’! 3. This type of message is always welcome!! #apaediatriclife
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