Alice Coombs

🖤 Black History Month 2025 💛

This year’s theme, “Standing Firm in Power & Pride”, reminds us to honour the resilience, strength and heritage of Black communities.

Together, we can build a future where cricket truly is for everyone.

I can't stop thinking about 1 sentence in today's UN report regarding Israel's genocide in Gaza. "Israeli security forces shot at & killed civilians, including children who were holding makeshift white flags. Some children, including toddlers, were shot in the head by snipers.”

Nothing to add.

What an insult to the players and fans!
I'd love to go but probably not taking time off work to do so, especially when I'm already going to use annual leave for the world cup.

The Israeli government has adopted the double-strike tactic used by Bashar al-Assad in Syria: target a hospital or heavily populated area, then hit it again when rescue workers, reporters and medics turn up, to kill or maim them too. Hideous war crimes piled one upon another.

Excited for the England India match at Durham's Riverside today. Come on Filer! 🤞🏼Weather holds

So pleased to see Durham do well AND get to see Ellyse Perry play

Watching Durham play in hot pink today is a little confusing with Hampshire playing in Durham's usual colours and the umpires matching Durham 😬
Great charity Coppafeel being supported today. Also great cakes.

Looking forward to the ODI today at Derby. Made it in time for the toss, the weather has hopefully settled. Great to be at a new (to me) ground and first time seeing this new look England as well as first time seeing West Indies

Lovely morning at Corbridge CC watching Northumberland Women play Cambridgeshire in the knockout cup. Beautiful grounds, some good cricket. Ridiculously sunny

Durham had some good bowling and fielding but Somerset had wickets in hand and managed to chase down the target.
Home now, warming up and can just about feel my feet. 🥶

Photo of cricket ground with Lumley Castle in background. From 1st innings with Durham batting and Somerset fielding. Some clouds in the sky

Colder this week at Riverside. Loving seeing Durham Womens Cricket. Despite the rain some excellent performances in the 1st innings.
Popped inside to warm up and they got their first wicket against Somerset.

@pollystarkie.bsky.social We've made it to Riverside. Ground staff seem to be working hard to get the match on.
The Members' lounge is busy even if the stands aren't yet.
Well done on the marathon, even if you weren't convinced on the recent podcast episode, we were impressed

Important reflections at such a time as this...

Large tank balanced on two smaller side tables in a bay window. In the tank is a large yellow wheel and lots of paper and hay bedding. Some tubes, sticks and an egg box are visible. Two small gerbils are spotted inside.

Bingen, a brown gerbil with a white spot on his head and a white belly is standing in his tank with paws together between an egg box and a small cardboard house with a carrot roof

Julian a cream gerbil with a white spot on his head stands in his food bowl in his tank.

Our new gerbils are settling into their new tank. It's an upgrade on the one we had for our previous pair.
Here are Julian and Bingen; it's lovely watching them explore and make the space their own.

Worked with some enthusiastic and curious medical students this week, full of questions...I was surprised when one asked if sexting laws were different for children as it was a little off topic. But it turns out he had asked about sectioning laws (meaning the MHA) so it was my answer that was rogue!

Had a lovely trip to Hamburg last month including good trains, remarkable Minatur Wunderland, catching up with beautiful MCC Folk and a fabulous concert in the stunning Elbphilharmonie.

Are young people losing their freedom because of Deprivation of Liberty Orders? This is a guest post by Victoria Butler Cole KC. Victoria is a barrister at 39 Essex and you can find her on Bluesky @torbc.bsky.social. The BBC recentl

Are young people losing their freedom because of Deprivation of Liberty Orders? @torbc.bsky.social looks at some recent coverage of so called ‘Dol’ cases: transparencyproject.org.uk/are-young-pe...

This continues to be a devastating emergency and the lack of progress to the care and wellbeing of the civilians is awful and the attacks on civilians, aid workers and emergency workers is surely not accidental

YouTube video by Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC) MCC is... Transgender | #TransgenderDayOfVisibility

MCC is... Transgender | Transgender Day of Visibility 🏳️‍⚧️

WATCH: youtu.be/BlW_Kk6muE4

#TransgenderDayOfVisibility #TDOV #TransDayOfVisibility #TransVisibility #TransIsVisible #TransAwareness #TransLivesMatter #TransLivesAreHumanRights #TransJoy #ProtectTransKids #TransRights #TransResistance

I wrote about palliative care and assisted dying/suicide for The House magazine.

Palliative care can help people who want to die want to live. It is, imo, an important safeguard. But amendments to ensure people who request assisted dying receive palliative care have been rejected.

t.co/9Db4kzVfKc

Lovely to meet you too. I'll be practising my umpiring signals 🙅🏼‍♂️

Alice standing in front of a big blue sign reading "Durham cricket women's launch event" and a mannequin wearing the new yellow T20 kit

Great to be at the launch of Durham Women's Cricket. Excellent to see the support for the team. Excited to see them play next month. Even had some encouraging umpiring chat and discovered a new podcast (Noughtie Child Podcast)
#ForTheNorth #ForEveryone

Reflecting on it and thinking ahead to the next job: I want to learn from the wisdom and experience of senior clinicans, (and families and patients) without taking on too many assumptions or acceptance of the unacceptable/status quo whilst also working out "what is mine to do?"

Had a good session from local/regional team delivering the HOPE(S) model today. Seems particularly relevant as I go back to working on wards for 6 months in Feb.

Passed my arcp...final year of training ahead now!!!

Very fluffy alpaca toy in Christmas hat, scarf and bowtie in foreground and a TV shows Claudia Winkleman on Traitors in the background.

Had a lovely Christmas break seeing family and friends. Now for a final relaxing evening before going back to work tomorrow. Trying to catch up on Traitors.

Just opened a Christmas present from my consultant supervisor including a packet of googly eyes, I've never felt more seen.

Today I was on a course with a bunch of psychiatry registrars from across the North East and Yorkshire and met someone I previously had met in a backpackers hostel in Zambia, 13 years ago, for about 2 evenings. We had not stayed in touch or known the other had gone into psychiatry. Such a delight.

Meanwhile the second week of December involved lots of end of placement work based assessments, busy on call shifts, lovely patients, and gerbils who are outraged that they've been moved to make space for the Christmas tree. 🎄

Excited for the NHS Carol Service at Durham Cathedral this evening. Rehearsal went well earlier and as long as the congregation don't mind us having 4 attempts at the final verse of The Holly and the Ivy I'm sure we'll all finish at the same time at least once