John Platt
@johnsplatt.bsky.social
NHS doctor 1979-2024, physician, geriatrician and stroke physician with an interest in teaching. Now retired. Lancastrian but long in London. Art and the natural world. Reader. Tries to keep drawing.
A walk on a drizzly day
January 16, 2026 at 5:35 AM
A walk on a drizzly day
Reposted by John Platt
FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOOFAH
Just slip out the tub, bub
Crush it with a handstand
That kind of ploy, Roy
Endears you to me.
Force it down the lav, Trev
Tear it into shards, pard
Defenestrate it, Mic
Hide it in a tree
Just slip out the tub, bub
Crush it with a handstand
That kind of ploy, Roy
Endears you to me.
Force it down the lav, Trev
Tear it into shards, pard
Defenestrate it, Mic
Hide it in a tree
January 15, 2026 at 9:39 PM
FIFTY WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOOFAH
Just slip out the tub, bub
Crush it with a handstand
That kind of ploy, Roy
Endears you to me.
Force it down the lav, Trev
Tear it into shards, pard
Defenestrate it, Mic
Hide it in a tree
Just slip out the tub, bub
Crush it with a handstand
That kind of ploy, Roy
Endears you to me.
Force it down the lav, Trev
Tear it into shards, pard
Defenestrate it, Mic
Hide it in a tree
Reposted by John Platt
Finding new ways to provide hope is an important part of neurological practice but you wont find enlightenment in our journals or our textbooks.
January 15, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Finding new ways to provide hope is an important part of neurological practice but you wont find enlightenment in our journals or our textbooks.
Minoan cups : about 1700 BC
Something lovely for the weekend!
Minoan cups made by Bronze Age potters some 3,800 years ago!
Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Minoan cups made by Bronze Age potters some 3,800 years ago!
Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete 📷 by me
#Archaeology
January 11, 2026 at 9:02 PM
Minoan cups : about 1700 BC
Reposted by John Platt
@hcrichardson.bsky.social wrote about a 1945 US leaflet on how to spot fascism in America.
I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit.
ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit.
ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
January 11, 2026 at 4:51 PM
@hcrichardson.bsky.social wrote about a 1945 US leaflet on how to spot fascism in America.
I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit.
ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
I thought it might be worth screenshotting the relevant bit.
ALL of the these warnings have come to pass in the past year. 1/2
‘Corridor care normalised’ . President of Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Today’s Times.
December 30, 2025 at 5:29 PM
‘Corridor care normalised’ . President of Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Today’s Times.
St Nicholas of Myra posts his gift through a window. From a medieval illumination.
December 25, 2025 at 9:52 AM
St Nicholas of Myra posts his gift through a window. From a medieval illumination.
One of my favourite images, inspired by Christmas. A medieval stone carving features an angel, who, with the gentlest of touches wakes the three magi who share a circular blanket. The angel draws their attention to the blazing eight pointed star above
December 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
One of my favourite images, inspired by Christmas. A medieval stone carving features an angel, who, with the gentlest of touches wakes the three magi who share a circular blanket. The angel draws their attention to the blazing eight pointed star above
Reposted by John Platt
An apothecary with his herbal by Rubens
The apothecary Pierre Quthe, with his herbal. Painted in 1562 by François Clouet, whose day is today.
December 22, 2025 at 5:55 PM
An apothecary with his herbal by Rubens
Reposted by John Platt
Mill in Winter, painting by Peter Brook, 1927-2009 (Kirklees Museums).
December 16, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Mill in Winter, painting by Peter Brook, 1927-2009 (Kirklees Museums).
Reposted by John Platt
Some Christmases ago, I gifted my late gran (Gwyneth) a journal, for her to capture her life story; answer questions I was always too shy to ask. I revisit the book, & especially her advice within, every so often. I see her handwritten words & it feels like she's beside me. I’m so glad we did this.
December 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Some Christmases ago, I gifted my late gran (Gwyneth) a journal, for her to capture her life story; answer questions I was always too shy to ask. I revisit the book, & especially her advice within, every so often. I see her handwritten words & it feels like she's beside me. I’m so glad we did this.
Reposted by John Platt
Painted from 1861-66, Martin Johnson Heade's 'Haystack at Sunset,' invites us to explore nature - a rowing boat placed in the central foreground provides entry into the scene and the sunset appears to emphasise the purity, perhaps the divinity, of the landscape.
December 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Painted from 1861-66, Martin Johnson Heade's 'Haystack at Sunset,' invites us to explore nature - a rowing boat placed in the central foreground provides entry into the scene and the sunset appears to emphasise the purity, perhaps the divinity, of the landscape.
Rainbow over Lake Buttermere by Turner
December 9, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Rainbow over Lake Buttermere by Turner
Reposted by John Platt
Wansdyke, a huge boundary earthwork seen here between Tan Hill and Milk Hill in Wiltshire. A stunning landscape.
December 8, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Wansdyke, a huge boundary earthwork seen here between Tan Hill and Milk Hill in Wiltshire. A stunning landscape.
A blaze of form and colour from the hallucinatory imagination of Mr Blake, born 28 November 1757
November 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM
A blaze of form and colour from the hallucinatory imagination of Mr Blake, born 28 November 1757
‘42 % of the medical workforce qualified overseas’
They are crucial to the NHS which could not function without them. Any significant loss threatens the Service.
They are crucial to the NHS which could not function without them. Any significant loss threatens the Service.
Overseas-trained doctors leaving the UK in record numbers.
Direct result of racism and insecurity unleashed by major political parties.
Not enough home trained doctors. Takes years and high debt to become a doctor.
A healthcare crisis in the making.
Direct result of racism and insecurity unleashed by major political parties.
Not enough home trained doctors. Takes years and high debt to become a doctor.
A healthcare crisis in the making.
Overseas-trained doctors leaving the UK in record numbers
Medical bodies warn that hostility towards migrants is behind a 26% rise in departures last year that imperils NHS
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:45 AM
‘42 % of the medical workforce qualified overseas’
They are crucial to the NHS which could not function without them. Any significant loss threatens the Service.
They are crucial to the NHS which could not function without them. Any significant loss threatens the Service.
Reposted by John Platt
Here’s Irish artist James Arthur O’Connor (1792-1841) The Poachers. He was an important Romantic painter who is relatively unknown outside of the island.
November 21, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Here’s Irish artist James Arthur O’Connor (1792-1841) The Poachers. He was an important Romantic painter who is relatively unknown outside of the island.
A geriatrician ponders these hotel stairs, darkly…
November 20, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A geriatrician ponders these hotel stairs, darkly…
Reposted by John Platt
Parking lot at the National Opera of Estonia.
November 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Parking lot at the National Opera of Estonia.
Reposted by John Platt
Wow, I missed that our book 'One Day' has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration because of Benjamin Phillips's wonderful artwork.
@CarnegieMedals
@benjamindraws
@CarnegieMedals
@benjamindraws
November 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Wow, I missed that our book 'One Day' has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration because of Benjamin Phillips's wonderful artwork.
@CarnegieMedals
@benjamindraws
@CarnegieMedals
@benjamindraws
Reposted by John Platt
"Former West Virginia coal miners with black lung drove to protest on the steps of the Labor Department...They held up photographs of dead friends and loved ones...On the opposite side of the building, an enormous banner with Trump’s face read 'American Workers First.'”
apnews.com/article/blac...
apnews.com/article/blac...
Deep in Trump country, coal miners with black lung say government is suffocating the 'working man'
Lisa Emery, a respiratory therapist, is deeply concerned about West Virginia coal miners suffering from black lung disease.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"Former West Virginia coal miners with black lung drove to protest on the steps of the Labor Department...They held up photographs of dead friends and loved ones...On the opposite side of the building, an enormous banner with Trump’s face read 'American Workers First.'”
apnews.com/article/blac...
apnews.com/article/blac...
From the hand of Mr Kandinsky, 1940
November 7, 2025 at 2:26 PM
From the hand of Mr Kandinsky, 1940
Reposted by John Platt
See the film and my update on the ongoing, pointless, man-made loss of life here: bsky.app/profile/agaw...
Today @TheNewYorker released our short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” online.
It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
See the film and my update on the ongoing, pointless, man-made loss of life here: bsky.app/profile/agaw...
A view into the deep past
Where the veil between seasons and legends is thin. Wayland's Smithy is cradled by a blazing ring of fall foliage. The very definition of a timeless landscape. 🍁 #History #Mythology
October 30, 2025 at 8:51 PM
A view into the deep past