Rosaleen O’Brien

As set out in this thread, the causes of the court backlog are chronic lack of funding and absurd inefficiency.

The government has made no proposals to address either. Their answer is to remove juries.

Rather than fix the leaking roof, their solution is to burn the house down.

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious? Today, the government has confirmed that it intends to remove the right to trial by jury in the vast majority of cases in the Crown Courts. Serious criminal allegations, carrying up to three years …

NEW BLOGPOST

Abolishing trial by jury: why is the government overlooking the obvious?

thesecretbarrister.com/2025/12/02/a...

Here's a piece I wrote about mandatory training for all health & social care staff about working with people with learning disability & autism - the Oliver McGowan training. Women with LD die 23 years younger than other women, men 19 years younger - is this the answer?
doi.org/10.1136/bmj....

Look out for new feature documentary Testimony, winner of the Best Human Rights Film at the Dublin International Film Festival
It chronicles the fight for justice by survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries and Mother & Baby Homes, a battle that takes them all the way to the UN

Coming up: Experiences of grief in ethnically diverse communities: panel discussion and film launch 📢

📆Thurs 4 Dec 2025
📍Online
🕛7-8pm

🔹Highly recommended
🔹New research findings
🔹Led by @lucyselman.bsky.social & colleagues @goodgrieffest.bsky.social

Details & register: 🔽
bsky.app/profile/good...

I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.

They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1

Cosy racism. Like cosy crime, but for racists.

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

"My NHS colleagues & I weren’t willing to let the bodies pile high in their thousands. Boris no longer mentions them at all."

My piece on the responses to the UK Covid-UK Inquiry report that try to airbrush the dead away.

Sincere thanks, @theobserveruk.bsky.social.

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

a screenshot of the Australian version of Taste Christmas, a recipe magazine, showing a recipe for a gingerbread house made of something known as "crack", which I think is some kind of mixture of chocolate and salty ingredients like crackers or pretzels. so they've called it "festive crack house"

oh, that's... that's not... you can't call it that

1/ How does the COVID Inquiry's Module 2 report align with what we said in @independentsage.bsky.social at the time? A 🧵on Transparency, Early & Decisive Action, Scientific Advice, Integration of Social & Economic Harms, Communication and Behavioural Science, Governance, Data and Preparedness

The red painted hearts of The National Covid Memorial Wall on a winter day. The sky is grey and the trees are bare.

Today, as the #CovidInquiry releases its module 2 report, we are thinking especially of everyone who will have to relive the trauma of that time, who will have to hear of the government failings that led to their loved ones' deaths. 

We will never forget our beloved dead. ❤️

UK Covid inquiry:

Chairwoman of the inquiry, former judge Baroness Hallett, said the UK's response could be summarised as "too little, too late"

Lockdown could have been avoided - but action came too late

'Chaotic' government with key figures criticised including Dominic Cummings & Boris Johnson

Men's Health Strategy for England Details the government’s 10-year vision for men's health and the actions we are taking now to improve the health and wellbeing of all men and boys in England.

First on the to read list www.gov.uk/government/p...

Looking forward to reawakening my dormant men’s health/ #masculinities brain cells in the new year. I will be joining a fab collaborative group who are evaluating men’s mental health interventions over the next three years. Men, it seems I haven’t finished with you!

A sleepless night, so I used it to plan a flower border for summer/autumn to plant in spring. Ordered an excessive amount of dahlias. GW is a really bad influence. #Gardening

The fact that the Louvre heist didn’t take place at dawn, but at the very reasonable hour of 9:30 a.m. shows that even French jewel thieves have a better work-life balance than us.

I’ll be writing a War and Peace-length essay about all the memorable pets I’ve loved. Looking forward to reading others.

🐈

Communicating with family when someone dies in the community: Six important steps for emergency ambulance personnel — Te Ārai Research Group This article introduces a six-step model for compassionate communication with family when emergency services are called to death. It is not a prescriptive checklist but a framework highlighting ke...

Some of the most important conversations we have in emergency care are with the acutely bereaved. After presenting at #ACPIC25, I was invited to share my framework for compassionate communication with a wider emergency services 🚑 audience #DeathNotification #EMSSky #EMSky #paramedicine

“Quiet, piggy”.

Someone needs to update their mandatory respect in the workplace training.

Yes, I think it’s a more cautious approach. No bad thing!

I’ve been lousy at initiating chats, so need to more of that.

I deleted my Twitter account when the nazi salutes started up, so there’s no going back. It had turned into an angry cesspit, so no regrets.

I much prefer Bluesky’s atmosphere, but like others have mentioned it’s hard to get going with engagement. I rarely use social media now. I miss it!

Blousy yellow and orange tulips from the garden, earlier in the year.

Currently binging episodes of Gardener’s World, which I’ve never watched regularly before (I’m convinced something biological happens as we get older and the ‘start watching GW’ gene gets activated). It’s like mind balm. A perfect hour of escape amidst the flowers. #GardenersWorld #Gardening

Group Chief Executive Officer - Starfish Search https://starfishsearch.com

🌍 We’re hiring a permanent Group Chief Executive!

If you’ve led at scale, think boldly about how to make real impact, and believe a fairer society is possible, then we’d love to hear from you.

👉 Find out more and apply here: starfishsearch.com/jobs/jrf-group-ceo

In our latest blog, Dr Deborah Fenney explores the shared challenges facing disabled people, carers and people with multiple long-term conditions and how cross-sector collaboration could build a more inclusive, joined-up system. Join the conversation. https://bit.ly/4qX6Neq

Stylised painting of light coming through a forest in thd background of thin tall trees causing long straight shadows on an expanse of fallen leaves in the foreground

'#Autumn light' by contemporary painter Susan Entwistle #WomensArt

Northern Lights 6”x6” oil

Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed

Like I dunno, maybe the reason it took a lady to break open the story of all the men protecting the dude trafficking underage girls is because the male journos were all emailing him making jokes about it?

The concept of blame in NHS patient safety (John Tingle, 7 November 2025)

Blog added to the hub today - The concept of blame in NHS patient safety, by John Tingle, Associate Professor at Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham. www.pslhub.org/learn/invest... #patientsafety

Join Dementia UK at a webinar discussing living alone with dementia and the experiences of carers supporting from a distance

🗓️Monday 24th November
🕑2-4pm

To register your attendance, email researchpublications@dementiauk.org