WOMEN of York – are you dreaming of a naked Christmas? Apparently being in the nude at the family meal is one of the most common nightmares females in the city are enduring at this time of year.

You don’t need a stint in the psychiatrist’s couch to work out why.

A quick five-minute consultation with Dr Google reveals exactly what’s going on; dreaming that you are naked “denotes fear of being found out and exposed over your activities”.

There’s no time like Christmas for bringing on a colossal panic attack. Women are renowned for their astonishing abilities to multi-task, but the challenge of Christmas raises the bar tenfold, demanding skills worth an Olympic medal.

Pulling off a successful Christmas is the equivalent of juggling balls, spinning plates and carrying out a contortionist act – all the while trying to be Nigella Lawson in the kitchen.

Jobs in the to-do tray warrant the grand title: CEO of Christmas PLC. From selecting, buying and wrapping presents, sending cards, menu planning, entertaining friends and family and keeping the house spick and span, it’s no wonder the fairer sex is feeling the pressure as the big day draws even closer.

Hence the nightmares of being naked as your nearest and dearest tuck into turkey and all the trimmings.

So it doesn’t help one jot that a survey reveals that half of men in York think women exaggerate the stress they feel at Christmastime.

To add insult to injury, the study by Travelodge also found that around one third of men in York boast that they could do a better job of hosting Christmas Day than their partner and wouldn’t get as stressed.

I once put this theory to the test when I went “on strike” on Christmas Eve and ordered my hubby to take over.

He managed brilliantly – he got my mum to do it all.


• TWO NHS stories caught my eye this week. One was the shocking story that you are more likely to die if you are admitted to hospital at the weekend because of the lack of senior doctors working.

Senior consultants and the country’s leading medic, Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, have flagged this up – and are demanding changes. And rightly so. Statistics show that seriously ill patients who are admitted to hospital at weekends are at a 12 per cent higher risk of dying than weekday arrivals.

You can’t pick when you might fall ill, and consultants are paid well enough that they should offer cover at weekends.

The other item to make my brow crease concerns changes to the ‘ten-minute appointment’ rule with your GP, which is now to be scrapped. One practice in England is already running a trial where patients can email doctors with their concerns.

This is alarming not least because GPs need to see their patients (and patients need to see their GPs.) Also, people often make an appointment over something small but use it as an excuse to mention a more worrying or troubling ailment.

Equally, many people who should be seeing a doctor put it off, worrying about wasting their GP’s time. These moves do nothing to encourage them to see a medic.

I’m all for having more access to GPs; it should be easier for patients to get appointments and even to speak to a doctor on the telephone, or by email for reassurance or to ask questions.

But consultations need to be face to face. It might just save your life.


• EACH December, in my final column of the year, I like to record my New Year’s Resolution, and check to see whether I kept the one I made 12 months earlier Well, for the first time in years, I can reveal that I did indeed maintain my pledge – which was to redecorate my home. And next year? I’ll be paying off the bills I amassed in doing so.