Pseudocyst

The adventures and life of a Specialist Nurse in Upper GI and Bariatric surgery. If you then double and triple this by having a primary school age child AND being married to another Nurse then you have double the trouble….aehm I mean fun. Hobbies are playing chess, board games and being taxi for our son!!!

Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this blog are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  • A Yeovil Showdown: Tears, Tantrums & Tennis Triumphs

    And just like that, we’ve hung up the mini rackets for a little while. Last weekend marked the last tennis tournament for the next 4–6 weeks — and where better to take a breather than the sunny(ish) courts of Yeovil? We picked Yeovil for a few very sensible reasons: The Pre-Game Ritual Like any seasoned Read more

  • Backhanded Compliments and Cheeky McD’s: Bideford, Round 2

    Disclaimer: All post-match snacks were ethically sourced from the McFlurry machine. No rackets were harmed in the making of this blog. Additional Disclaimer: Fish may have been shared. Chips were not. Last weekend saw us return to the sunny (and slightly smug) courts of Bideford for another round of U9 tennis — same ARC venue, Read more

  • BOMSS Journal Club – Somerset Steps Back into the Spotlight

    Disclaimer:This blog reflects personal views and is written in accordance with the NMC Social Media Guidelines and the Code of Conduct. All patient details are anonymised or excluded. We’re back! After a bit of a hiatus, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust’s Upper GI and Bariatric Team will once again step into the academic limelight at the Read more

  • Why the UK Pancreatic Cyst Surveillance Programme Matters – and how Somerset’s new Nurse-Practitioner-led clinic is rewriting the pathway

    Pancreatic cysts in a high-definition era Routine cross-sectional imaging now detects fluid-filled lesions in up to 13 % of adults undergoing abdominal scans (Kruse & Paulson, 2024). Although most cysts are innocuous, a biologically important minority represent or can evolve into pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Pathologically they fall into two broad camps: Familial cancer syndromes Read more

  • The Heavyweights Have Arrived: Mounjaro and Wegovy in the UK Bariatric Ring

    As this is a work related post first things first: Disclaimer: This blog post adheres to the NMC Social Media Guidance. It reflects personal, evidence-based analysis and is not a substitute for individual clinical judgment. Ok, that off the table now – shall we: A quiet revolution has just landed in British GP surgeries — Read more

  • Return to the ARC – U9 Tennis, Scorching Sun & Court 3 Superstardom

    Well, we’re back. Not just from Bideford, North Devon, but back at that special venue — the Atlantic Racquet Centre (ARC), where our son played his first ever tournament just over a year ago. Back then it was U8s, big nerves, little rackets, and a slightly confused parent brigade googling what “Red ball” meant. Fast Read more

  • From North to South—and a Little Bit of Growing Up in Between

    A tennis parent’s tale from the Millfield Grade 4 U9 Compass Draw 🚗 Destination: Millfield Prep Last Saturday, we packed the car with bananas, tennis bags, and enough snacks to feed a small army, and headed to Millfield Prep School—a venue known as much for its prestige as for its particularly bouncy indoor courts. The Read more

  • “Are you worth 3.6 %?”

    (Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Keep reading, there’s a chart.) 1 | The headline offer On 22 May Whitehall confirmed a 3.6 % consolidated rise for Agenda for Change staff (DHSC, 2025a) , nudging a Band-5 midpoint to £33 487 (NHS Employers, 2025). 2 | Does 3.6 % even keep you whole? 3 | League table: nurses v. doctors v. teachers Read more

  • Plot Twist: How to Hack Your NHS Nursing Career (Without Losing Your Scrubs)

    “Plan like a grandmaster, hustle like a student nurse on free pizza day.” Disclaimer Opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent my employer or the NMC. Everyone loves asking how I keep tripping over jobs I like. Spoiler: there’s no enchanted stethoscope—just a very un‑glam combo of long‑game plotting and downright sweaty Read more

  • The Crisis in UK Nursing: Pay, Retention, and the Future of Care

    AS ALWAYS FIRST THINGS FIRST: NMC Social Media Compliance Disclaimer This article represents my personal professional reflections as a registered nurse in Somerset. It has been written in strict accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Professional Standards (2018) and the NMC’s Social Media Guidance. Specifically, it complies with section 5 (confidentiality) and Read more