On a wall in Auckland City Hospital

A good day at work today. The pressure from new admissions in the last 24 hours has dropped this week; the unit remains full or near full most of the time, but demand for a bed in which to admit is less. It needed to be as staff are beginning to feel overloaded.

Meetings took up a lot of the day for me; at the first of those it was announced that the position of Medical Director (Mental Health) was going to be advertised as a half time (0.5) job. This is the same that I have been trying to do for the last more than a year on 0.3. It is vindication of my decision to not seek an extension.

Later in the day I was told that my present major role in the inpatient unit is going to be continued and enlarged to permit me to focus entirely on the inpatient acute services, and of course I agreed. It is a relief to have this sorted out two months before the current fixed term expires; both of the last two years my contract had expired well before there was a confirmation of an extension.

The relief from stress informed me of just how stressful the last couple of months (since we emerged from lockdown) have been. 

When I was searching old albums and boxes of photos for a photo to mark my father's birthday, I did see a photo which rather amused me. Of me, wearing a T-shirt my son (Tsuken on blip) had given me. The words read "Please hassle this Dad. He thrives on stress". That was then; this is now.

When I was returning to the unit after this morning's meeting I noticed a painting hanging on a wall in the lower levels of the hospital. I liked it and have blipped my photo of it. Cycling home this evening, I took a photo at the junction of Karangahape Road and Great North Road, and have put that up as an extra.