Tim Tonkin

@theBMA staff writer for @TheDrMagazine

[Tim Tonkin @BMAtim]

As heartbreaking as it is, the plight of Prabodhya and her two children is one that is sadly far from unique.

I hope that by helping to tell her story, the Home Office will recognise the importance of giving bereaved families of overseas medical staff a right to stay in the UK.

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘Every day, I’m suffering.’

Prabodhya Wijetunge came to the UK to join her husband, an NHS geriatrician, in 2022. Following her husband’s death however, she and her children face the risk of being forced out of a country they consider their home. [1/7]

https://t.co/PvPwe7eLTz

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

GPs in England are set to be balloted on whether @BMA_GP England should explore alternative strategies for providing GP services.

Read our story👇

https://t.co/zY45aWePt3

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

🚨Resident doctors in England announce 4 days of strike action🚨

June walkout called by @BMAResidents after 'intransigence' from new health secretary @jamesmurray_ldn

Full details👇
https://t.co/0Q5dbFQese

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘When our staff are supported our profession is protected.’

Doctors attending this year’s @BMA_Consultants conference all for greater wellbeing and workplace support for senior doctors, warning that failing to invest in these services will only further harm the NHS.

Read our story👇

https://t.co/jQO5NiojTQ

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

Our latest newsletter is with doctors now.
In it, we:
🩺Hear how FY3 locum shifts have dried up
👩‍⚕️Meet doctors with caring responsibilities
⚕️Talk to refugee doctors working in the NHS

Read all that here:
https://t.co/IYZ3AKrqpM

[Tim Tonkin @BMAtim]

My latest piece for @TheDrMagazine

I can't emphasise enough what an enormous privilege it was to hear and be able to help tell these doctors' stories 👇

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘I’d been called “illegal immigrant” until I thought that was my name’

Doctors are among the thousands of people who each year seek asylum in the UK, @BMAtim hears from three doctors about their journeys to safety and their overwhelming desire to make a positive difference to the place they now call home.🧵[1/6]

https://t.co/pCKK5tq7M2

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

GP Patrick Hart has been to prison for actions relating to his climate activism, and was recently suspended from the GMC register to boot.

In an interview with @ben_ireland_11, he explains why he has 'never been so sure' he is doing the right thing. [1/7]
https://t.co/Wbsmqt9ZeS

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Resident doctors in England are set to face ballot on renewing strike mandate until August 2026.

Read in full 👇

https://t.co/k5WI1hizMQ

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

Resident doctors refuse to bow to health secretary’s ‘emotional blackmail’.

@ben_ireland_11 and @BMAtim report from the picket lines today: https://t.co/1xG8l67vkj

[Tim Tonkin @BMAtim]

On day one of the 13th round of industrial action by resident doctors in England, @ben_ireland_11 and I spoke to those on the picket lines 👇

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

Good morning from Manchester Royal Infirmary where @BMAResidents have started to arrive for the first of five days’ industrial action. 📢

Our team will be speaking to doctors in Manchester and London today. Follow us for updates.

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

GP leaders in Scotland have welcomed a £531 million three-year deal with the Scottish Government as a ‘significant step in the right direction’ to stabilise and rebuild general practice.

Full story from our Scotland correspondent @JenTrueland [1/3]
https://t.co/lsN3mB9kca

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘The Government ignores this significant portion of the senior medical workforce at its peril’

@BMA_Consultants and @BMA_SAS doctors in England have voted to back the possibility of using strike action to secure improvements on pay the results of two indicative ballots have today revealed.🧵[1/4]

https://t.co/IoiSuTKukj

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘If hospitals aren’t a place of safety, where do you go?’

In the final episode of #TheDoctorPod @TheBMA medical ethics committee chair @DrAndrewGreen and international committee chair @DrKittyMohan mark #WorldHumanitarianDay by discussing medical neutrality and the rising tide of violence against healthcare staff in conflict zones.

Follow and listen now – search ‘The Doctor BMA’ wherever you get your podcasts, or visit https://t.co/g81DIqRFIy

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

Delivering good healthcare can be challenging no matter where it takes place. @BMAtim hears about the work of @oncallafrica and its quest to transform healthcare in Zambia’s isolated rural communities🧵[1/6]

https://t.co/2eJ6xPJW6V

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

Writing poetry might seem an unlikely habit for a senior army doctor on the front line or a senior NHS leader.

Three senior doctors tell @Seren_Boyd how their poetry has helped them develop personally & professionally and why they recommend poetry to colleagues [1/5]

https://t.co/vYOogzIaAi

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘Uncertainty, anxiety and unnecessary stress’

@TheBMA council chair @thomasdolphin has called on the Government to rethink plans to tighten immigration laws warning that current proposals unfairly impact international medical graduates.

https://t.co/HiWLTQf4a7

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

🚨UPDATED🚨

Resident doctors in England announce dates for five days of full walk out strike action 👇

https://t.co/tar0iL1zpM

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

‘Doctors have spoken and spoken clearly: they won’t accept that they are worth a fifth less than they were in 2008.’

@BMAResidents co-chairs @Melissa_S_Ryan and @RossNieuwoudt react after resident doctors delivered a renewed mandate for strike action.

Full story:
https://t.co/JQGBojfeJu

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

🚨BREAKING 🚨

Resident doctors in England have voted YES to resuming strike action over pay.

More to follow

[The Doctor Magazine @TheDrMagazine]

The scale of the medical unemployment crisis has been laid bare by a survey from @BMAScotland which shows 70% of resident (formerly junior) doctors fear they won’t have a job come August.

@JenTrueland reports. 🧵[1/4]