Oscar nomination...

Back this week examining in communication skills for the MRCS at the Royal College of Surgeons. Always an exhausting day - 40 candidates each day with ten minute slots.

You may remember that a surgeon colleague examiner and I are in charge of a station along with an actor whose job it is to act out a scenario. Then we two examiners assess the candidate's response. Today it was an actor I had never met before. This is Maureen.

It is a very demanding job being the actor - they have to maintain absolute consistency through the day and play the same little scene 40 times! Exhausting.

Obviously for security reasons I can't tell you anything about the scenario that Maureen played - but I must say she was magnificent. I will see her on Eastenders any day now.