The ‘Health Herald’, a nursing blog, tells us its favourite hospice/older person blogs, putting this blog bizarrely into its pain management category – if there’s one thing I don’t rant on about it’s pain management.

I now feel a duty to comply (you didn’t know that about me did you?) So: Except to say that good pain and symptom management is an essential part of pallaitiev care, but mainly so that people can continue to lead interesting lives that allow them to complete the social tasks they need to achieve in the life that remains to them.

The listing at: http://nursesassistant.org/2010/top-50-hospice-care-blogs/

Apologies for the only occasional posts – this is partly because I’ve been away a lot, but also because we’ve had some technical difficulties, now sorted out. I am now going to post a series of items which have been waiting.

There’s been a gap while I’ve been giving lectures abroad and while the new format of this blog has been sorted out.

Now another pic of the new St C’s; it’s another view of the new Anniversary Centre (I’m now calling it Annicen) where patients and family members congregate before or after appointments or day centre, or to look for info. I have been known to say it’s really just like Starbucks, but the menu’s better.

Regular visitors will have noticed a gap; this is because we are migrating the blog to a new style that makes it easier to blog (they tell me) and has new St C’s colours etc. It will also provide for a new blog coming along soon. Sorry about the gap.

Sorry folks; again a technical problem has meant that this blog has been missing from the internet for about a month, although people on the internal St Christopher’s website will have been able to see it. Now it has been reinstated, I’m afraid some of the comments you made have been lost. But we’re back in normal mode now.

What with the state of the government, you wonder if it’s worthwhile looking at any government documents at the moment, because you wonder if they can carry them out, However, in the spirit of enlightenment, as always they often contain useful information and analysis; so here, over the next series of posts, goes.

There seem to be some people who almost instantly view posts, when I’m having a bout of posting, and may wonder why there is a moment or two of unsteadiness as I post a post (so to speak). This is because the progam does not have a spell-check and transferring a post from the word-processor is not a seamless process, so I have to amend posts in the first few moments after I can see them published. And it’s why there’s the odd typo in most posts because I haven’t noticed it – sorry.

A Happy Christmas and successful new year to all readers of this blog.

In among the rebuilding works, we had the usual remembrance tree ceremony at St Christopher’s, this year using an existing tree, rather than a specially bought one.