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Iona Collins

@nhsdoctor.bsky.social
920 followers 738 following 47 posts

I am employed by NHSWales to work as a Consultant Orthopaedic Spinal Surgeon and I am employed by BMA Cymru Wales to work as Welsh Council Chair. I post about work-related matters. Rwy’n siarad Cymraeg fel ail iaith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
ONE HOUR TO GO!!!
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/u... 4pm deadline today, folks. According to AI, only 0.25% of us threw our hats in the ring in 2022. We influence from within not outside, so please self-nominate today. 👇
bma.org.uk
UK council elections
Elections to BMA UK council are currently underway with nominations now open.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
The BMA is asking us to complete their consultation exercise regarding role extensions in allied healthcare colleagues. We want to see how this collaboration enhances medical care and patient safety, or whether the medical perspective is different to what we think. www.surveymonkey.com/r/MVXCB99
surveymonkey.com
Survey on advanced practitioners
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
I've just completed my self-nomination to BMA UK Council. Please consider doing likewise. The form doesn't take long to fill. www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/u...,
bma.org.uk
UK council elections
Elections to BMA UK council are currently underway with nominations now open.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/u...,
bma.org.uk
UK council elections
Elections to BMA UK council are currently underway with nominations now open.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
UK Council applications are now open. All BMA members should have received their invitation by email to apply. Council numbers are restricted by voting, with weighting applied to achieve the most balanced representation. Please consider applying. www.bma.org.uk/what-we-do/u...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Wales🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 has a huge coastline 🌊 and while some may shy away from the cold water 🥶, others see the health benefits and take the plunge anyway. Thousands did this around Wales on Boxing Day and will do it again on Jan 1st. This is my attempt at health promotion :)
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
"I appreciate how SAS doctors provide a stable and consistent presence in our departments. They help to bring continuity to patient care" 🗣 @nhsdoctor.bsky.social shares her professional experiences for #SASweek2025 🔗 bit.ly/433tq6E
bit.ly
SAS doctors: a personal reflection
As we celebrate SAS Week, I want to share my personal journey working with SAS doctors—colleagues who have helped to shape my career and continue to play a vital role in NHS Wales
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
Shwmae, hello, We could really do with some signatures to get our BMA Cymru Wales/RCN Corridor Care petition over the 10k mark. Please help us to make corridor care a thing of the past Diolch petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/24...
petitions.senedd.wales
Petition: End corridor care in Wales
In Wales, patients are currently receiving care on trolleys or chairs for hours on end, often days, in pain and suffering. Doctors, nurses, and health care staff are forced to treat and care for patients in corridors, car parks, and other places where safe, dignified care isn't possible and where they lack access to life-saving equipment.  The Royal College of Nursing Wales and the BMA Cymru Wales are jointly raising the alarm on patient safety for Welsh Government to eradicate corridor care.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
1500 push ups so far. No idea why I started the September challenge early and my shoulders are unhappy. Gotta keep going, though! I deal with spinal metastases frequently and hope not to see them in the future, as a result of good research. fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ionas-g...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
I'm building up my arms in preparation for September's Cancer Research UK push up challenge. fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/ionas-g...
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
“Given the seriousness of the concerns, and the lack of an independent review commissioned for Wales, we urge the Welsh Government to immediately implement the recommendations" 🗣️ @nhsdoctor.bsky.social responds to the Leng Review ➡️ www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-ce...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The assistant role has an assistant title
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Cllr Salman Shaheen @salmanshaheen.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
I was just outside King's Cross 20 years ago today, about to board a train, first confused and then frightened as the true horror of what had happened emerged. As ever, my thoughts are with the victims of #7/7 and their families. As ever, I am proud of how London came together, undivided by hate.
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
"The NHS has processes to tackle sub-optimal behaviour yet reports continue to appear about unacceptable work culture" Read @nhsdoctor.bsky.social reflections on NHS performance and working culture ⬇️ bit.ly/4n3I9al
bit.ly
Happy staff, better outcomes
The NHS has processes to tackle sub-optimal behaviour yet reports continue to appear about unacceptable work culture
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
A worthy cause, thanks Rowena www.justgiving.com/page/rowena-...
justgiving.com
Rowena's fundraiser for Welsh Women's Aid
Help Rowena Christmas raise money to support Cymorth i Ferched - Welsh Women's Aid
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 22/05/2025
"This award comes nowhere near to addressing the pay erosion of the last sixteen years" @nhsdoctor.bsky.social responds to today’s pay award announcement 📩 Members look out for an email bit.ly/4msCTMR
bit.ly
BMA Cymru Wales responds to 25/26 pay award - BMA media centre - BMA
Press release from BMA Cymru Wales
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 30/04/2025
Please sign and share. Corridor care doesn’t help anyone and if we reach 10k signatures rapidly, this will get attention in Welsh Parliament more rapidly, too. Thank you petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/24...
petitions.senedd.wales
Petition: End corridor care in Wales
In Wales, patients are currently receiving care on trolleys or chairs for hours on end, often days, in pain and suffering. Doctors, nurses, and health care staff are forced to treat and care for patie...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Please share 🙏 petitions.senedd.wales/petitions/24...
petitions.senedd.wales
Petition: End corridor care in Wales
In Wales, patients are currently receiving care on trolleys or chairs for hours on end, often days, in pain and suffering. Doctors, nurses, and health care staff are forced to treat and care for patie...
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The BMA @bma.org.uk · 14/04/2025
The High Court has granted us permission to submit evidence to a legal challenge relating to the regulation of PAs and AAs by the GMC, brought by @anaesunited.bsky.social and the family of Emily Chesterton. Read the full story from #TheDrMagazine 👇 thedoctor.bma.org.uk/articles/lif...
thedoctor.bma.org.uk
BMA secures right to use evidence in PA challenge
High Court grants association permission to draw on documentation in judicial review against GMC
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Are NHS professionals becoming slaves to protocols?
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
consultations.dhsc.gov.uk/67b88983cde4...
consultations.dhsc.gov.uk
Survey - Independent review of physician associates and anaesthesia associates: survey of healthcare professionals
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Are there enough people to get on with the job properly any more? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Homerton Hospital: Doctor 'betrayed' over son's death at her hospital
Deborah Burns says she is unable to return to work at the hospital after the death of her son, William Hewes.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
This is the qualification which allows me to practise medicine 👇
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The BMA @bma.org.uk · 19/03/2025
GPC England has agreed to the 2025/26 contract changes after securing a written commitment from the Government to fully renegotiate the national contract within this parliament. We’re now out of dispute and working on next steps. 👉 Learn more bma.org.uk/gpcontract
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...
forms.office.com
Microsoft Forms
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
“The service is failing to equip doctors with the ability to deliver care when it is needed”   📺 @nhsdoctor.bsky.social on last night’s @sharpenditv.bsky.social on how limited resources, corridor care and extreme pressures are impacting on the ability to deliver safe and timely care to patients
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
“We feared going to work. We feared getting sick and we feared that we may infect those around us” @nhsdoctor.bsky.social Iona Collins recalls the early days of COVID, and the injustices experienced since ⬇️ www.bma.org.uk/news-and-opi...
bma.org.uk
The pandemic overwhelmed us | BMA blogs
BMA Cymru Wales chair Iona Collins recalls the fear of the early days of COVID, and the injustices experienced since
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
@bma.org.uk highlights that it will explore all options, including legal, to help correct that which has gone wrong. www.thefederation.uk/news/mrcpuk-...
thefederation.uk
MRCP(UK) Part 2 2023/03 Diet results issue announcement
We are very sorry to announce we have identified that, due to a data processing issue, incorrect examination results were communicated to a group of candidates in the UK and internationally who took t...
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Emma Runswick @redrunswick.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
The MRCP exam debacle is outrageous. I can't write what I would like to say. We are exploring ALL possible options, including legal, for those affected. CONTACT US if you are in this boat. And get wellbeing support if struggling.
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The BMA @bma.org.uk · 21/02/2025
The federation’s handling of the MRCP exam issue has been "completely atrocious" @redrunswick.bsky.social says to @news.sky.com Doctors dedicate their time and money going to study events and courses, this error will have a huge toll on their wellbeing. Read more news.sky.com/story/calls-...
news.sky.com
Calls for compensation after hundreds of doctors received wrong exam results in 'atrocious' and 'life-altering' error
Some 222 doctors who thought they had passed a key exam they sat nearly 18 months ago have now been informed they failed. Another 61 who believed they had failed have now been told they passed in what...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
The BMA states that it will explore legal options.
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The BMA @bma.org.uk · 21/02/2025
We've written to @WesStreeting to ask for a coordinated, urgent response to the @MRCPUK exams debacle that protects jobs and training, so no doctor suffers further detriment. We represent many doctors affected and will pursue all legal routes available. Read our demands 👇
BMA letter to Wes Streeting on the MRCP exams issue Signatories of the BMA letter to Wes Streeting on the MRCP exams issue
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bmacymru.bsky.social @bmacymru.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
“We're not delivering emergency care, we're not delivering the very first basic thing that the NHS is supposed to do in our time of need" 🎧Listen to @nhsdoctor.bsky.social on @bbc5live.bsky.social discussing the significant pressure on the NHS in Wales 📻 (48 min)⬇️ bit.ly/4hOKouC
bit.ly
5 Live Drive - 13/02/2025 - BBC Sounds
A round-up of the day's top news and sport with Clare McDonnell and Chris Warburton.
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Helen Salisbury @helensalisbury.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
'The absence of evidence of safety incidents [..] appears to have been misinterpreted by policymakers to mean that there are no safety concerns with the substitution of doctors with PAs. This is an error of logic which, if not corrected, is likely to cost lives.' papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com
Physician Associates and Anaesthetic Associates in the UK: A Rapid Systematic Review of Published Research to Inform the Leng Review
<span>This paper describes a systematic literature review of UK-based empirical research on physician associates (PAs) and anaesthetic associates (AAs), publish
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Claire #FBPE ☘️ 🍉 🇺🇦 🇪🇺🐝 🦮🇮🇪🇧🇪 💙💚 @fbpech.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
substack.com/@jujuliagrac... Urgent 👇
substack.com
Dr Julia Grace Patterson💙 on Substack
The only people who benefit from NHS privatisation are the private company shareholders. Private companies treat the NHS like a cash cow. They train barely any staff. They mostly don’t provide emergen...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Can anyone explain how a GP can take on this “over and above” work for just over a fiver?
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
I thought I should share this pic. Happy Friday, folks.
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
I think this sums up NHS IT at the moment. Each programme requires separate sign in, slow connectivity and minimal data cross-population. The paper notes allowed drawings, quick check of legacy notes, bold underlined important information etc etc. (yes, I appreciate the rose tints :) )
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
When will we start planting fruit trees in UK public spaces, for all to enjoy?
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
BREAKING Revised Royal College of Physicians of London position on Physician Associates. TL;DR: we shifted them considerably towards a safer position. It’s too little too late but a LOT better than nothing. www.rcp.ac.uk/news-and-med...
rcp.ac.uk
RCP publishes updated position on physician associates working in secondary care in the medical specialties
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Reader of Banned Books @readerofbannedbook.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
14065481520393
Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Can doctors’ assistants be called doctors’ assistants, with doctors being assisted and patients receiving more efficient care as a result? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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Iona Collins @nhsdoctor.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
go.bsky.app/D8j5bUn I’ve had a bash at setting up a starter pack. If you prefer to not be included/not be included, please DM me and I’ll make the necessary changes :)
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
More insights come when we look at the jobs in Wales. The map below shows the percentage of households in an area which have no-one in employment. The darkest area is Blaenau Gwent where almost a quarter of households have no-one working.
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
This is damning of the Welsh Gov. They will argue that it isn’t fair to compare Wales with England given that England is so much bigger and has large pockets of wealth. This'd be a strong point except when we compare Wales to regions of England. Wales is still highest in terms of food bank use.
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
However it does have a bigger poverty problem than other parts of the UK. This graph shows food bank use in Wales:
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
Clearly there are there are pockets of the Valleys which have decent incomes and parts of the Welsh capital that are incredibly deprived. You may be surprised to hear that the poorest part and the richest part of Wales are right next to each other!
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
The horrible facts of the matter that there is a higher percentage of children in poverty than any other age groups:
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Will Hayward - Wales Journo @willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 14/11/2024
- There are about 600k children live in Wales - Of those, just under one in three, or 200k, are in poverty. This is households at or below 60% of median income. - Of those, 90k are living in severe poverty (below 50% of median income).
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