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Sarah Chaney

@kentishscribbler.bsky.social

740 followers 420 following 86 posts

Historian of medicine and stuff. Writer. Curator. Socialist. Obsessive. Author of “Psyche on the Skin: A history of self-harm” (2016) and “Am I Normal? The 200-year search for normal people and why they don’t exist” (2022)

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Dec 10

In memory of Kentish Scribbler (18?? - 1902): A short #SkyStorians #HistPsych 🧵

Blurry close up of a 19th century sketch showing a woman with barred lines over her face on a detailed background

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

The Wynter in Black 🎃🐈‍⬛ @rebeccawynter.bsky.social · Jun 20

📢New article from me, Niyah Campbell, @kentishscribbler.bsky.social & @sarahvmarks.bsky.social📢

'The persistence of history: Racism, anti-Blackness, and the causes of mental ill health, c.1800–2020' is OA with History of the Human Sciences doi.org/10.1177/0952...

#HistPsych #HistSTM #BlackHistory

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

doi.org

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Geth Rees @gethrees.bsky.social · Jun 17

Quick plug for an event I'm speaking at tomorrow on forensic nursing. I'm specifically talking about past work on the introduction of FNEs into sexual offence interventions, but I'm sure I'll also comment on police custody. @kentishscribbler.bsky.social www.rcn.org.uk/news-and-eve...

Care in Custody: From police matrons to forensics | Royal College of Nursing

An online talk on the history of women in the police service and the role of nursing in forensics.

www.rcn.org.uk

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Royal College of Nursing Library and Museum @rcnlibraries.bsky.social · May 12

Join us at #RCN25 Congress for the Sign Painting Studio with artist Peter Liversidge. Create your own placard, some of which will feature in 'The Art of Nursing' exhibition in late June. Materials are provided, and you can take your placard home.

Exhibition Hall, Monday – Wednesday, 10 am – 4 pm.

A person holds a sign reading "Hear every voice"

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · May 12

On the way home from RCN Congress after a busy day signpainting with Peter Liversidge and @rcnlibraries.bsky.social. So many fantastic placards for our #ArtofNursing exhibition! The sign studio opens again tomorrow and Wed 🪧

A woman in white overalls and cap standing in front of a display of cardboard signs with black painted text: “trust is everything”

A group of people learning to paint placards around the artist in white overalls and cap

Placards leaning against the wall and drying on the floor. They are painted in black capitals in cardboard including: “nursing is the future” “I blink with you” and “byddwch garedig”

Nurse painting a placard on cardboard in black capitals reading “protect mental health nursing”

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · May 8

From Brian Jarman’s inequality maps of the 1970s to David Widgery’s activism it also gives me hope that the fight to tackle inequality is still out there, even if sadly lacking from the current government agenda. This is not the end of the story!

Exhibition display case in front of a wall panel and map image. Display reads: “Health at the Deep End: Breaking the inverse care law”

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · May 8

I’ve really enjoyed doing the research into this over the last 8 months, and meeting some great people who are battling to make a difference to inequality, from the GPs in “deep end” practices in Scotland to the Museum of Homelessness.

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · May 8

Unequal: the history of health and society - Exhibition launched! The exhibition is free and open to all at the Royal College of GPs, 30 Euston Square (next to Euston Station). You can also see a (slightly different) version of the exhibition online here: www.rcgp.org.uk/about/museum...

Exhibition: Unequal – Health and Society

Not everyone receives the care they need, even under a universal healthcare system. This exhibition explores the history of health inequalities in the UK.

www.rcgp.org.uk

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 12

How did I not know Betsi Cadwaladr was buried in Abney Park until today? #HistNursing

Photograph of a woman in a yellow dress standing next to a gravestone in a wooded cemetery

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 11

Well, that was tempting fate. Since I posted this they have eaten all the runner beans! 😼

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 11

I have grown stuff! (mostly tomatoes) This is a rare achievement and I am now counting the days until they die or the cats eat them 🌱

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 11

I have grown stuff! (mostly tomatoes) This is a rare achievement and I am now counting the days until they die or the cats eat them 🌱

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 5

#HealthInequalities
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Doctors urge government to fight poverty after rise in patients with Victorian diseases

Survey finds vast majority of doctors are concerned at impact of health inequalities on their patients

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Dr Jay Watts (they/she) @shrinkatlarge.bsky.social · Apr 5

Alt text:
A bold digital graphic split into two halves. On the left, in red and black text, it reads: “CLAIM: 383% rise in people too sick to work” — attributed to the DWP press release from 13 March 2025. On the right, in white and black, it states: “REALITY: The actual rise is 50% — mostly due to migration from legacy benefits.” Above the hashtag section, a prominent line reads: “There are lies, damn lies and (Labour’s) statistics.” At the bottom, it cites the UK Statistics Authority letter to DWP, March 2025. Hashtags included are #DisabilityBenefitsCuts and #WelfareNotWorkfare. The colour scheme is red, black, and white for sharp visual contrast.

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 4

Still, nothing will beat the time Tesco sent me happy birthday napkins instead of sanitary towels

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Apr 4

The mystery of supermarket substitutions. I order mushrooms. They send me… cheese and garlic bread??

Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Zarah Sultana MP @zarahsultana.bsky.social · Mar 31

Trans rights are human rights 🏳️‍⚧️

On #TransDayOfVisibility — and every day — we celebrate trans people and reaffirm the fight for a world where they can live freely, without discrimination or hate.

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

fairhomeswf.bsky.social @fairhomeswf.bsky.social · Mar 27

In 2002, buying in Waltham Forest cost 6x the average salary - by 2018, it jumped to 14x. House prices have now hit £525K, while the council pledged 35% of new homes would be affordable. So why are so many still out of reach?

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Save the Children UK @savechildrenuk.bsky.social · Mar 26

The UK Government committed to tackling child poverty, and right now it is rising. At the moment, this will be the first Labour Government likely to oversee a significant rise in the number of children in poverty.

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · Mar 26

This is Labour’s poll tax. Its tuition fees. It is - as Iraq was for Blair - the moral stain that will mark Starmer’s government and the party for years to come. Severely disabled people are going to be starved, isolated and degraded. No Labour MP who backs this will be forgiven.

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Owen Jones @owenjones.bsky.social · Mar 26

Did anyone vote for this?

@meadwaj.bsky.social tears apart Rachel Reeves' #Budget2025

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Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Mar 26

Being a downright #TypicalHistorian at a music festival

Over-excited 40-something woman with pink and blue hair and black sparkly top pointing at her name on a poster

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Mar 26

YouGov poll asking if I believe in vampires and wondering if that’s linked to the #SpringStatement

Sarah Chaney @kentishscribbler.bsky.social · Mar 26

From M’Gonigle and Kirby,‘Poverty and Public Health’, 1936. This features in the exhibition I’m curating on health inequalities. Hospital admissions for malnutrition were on the rise even before today’s welfare cuts.

Children may, and in fact not infrequently do, grow up healthily in spite of a bad material environment. They may avoid clinical illnesses due to infections, though exposed to the infections; they may survive, undamaged, illnesses resulting from the invasion of their tissues by pathogenic microorganisms, but they cannot survive unscathed prolonged deprivations or deficiencies of certain essentials for normal nutrition.

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Dr Shelby Zimmerman @shelbyzimme.bsky.social · Mar 22

Excellent exhibition, ‘Making the Rounds’ at @rcnlibraries.bsky.social in London.This exhibit explores the experience and stories of workhouse nurses in Norfolk. As artefacts tend to not survive from workhouse infirmaries, artist Connie Flynn used textiles to share these stories #workhouse #histmed

Kidney dish similar to the ones used by workhouse nurses made of felt

White sheets with labels showing the types of cases and patients the workhouse nurses tended to

A district nurse’s medical bag from the 1920s. Workhouse nurses had similar tools and medicines at their disposal

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · Mar 23

Names and faces of children killed in Israel's latest offensive on Gaza

At least 183 Palestinian children have been killed since Tuesday morning

www.middleeasteye.net

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Reposted by Sarah Chaney

IndiaWilloughby @indiawilloughby.bsky.social · Mar 23

1/There’s been a blitzkrieg of stories like this over the past week about trans people. 0.5% of the population. All appearing across the biggest media platforms in the UK. From the BBC to national press. Rolled out by Tufton Street think tanks, based on ‘studies’ written by anti-trans campaigners.

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