SO, it's been snowing and everything grinds to a halt. This is not new.

The British Medical Journal of March, 1909, reported the cancellation of a football match between St Thomas' Hospital and St Mary's in London.

The good news in that the match between St Thomas' and Harlequins did go ahead, but in blizzard conditions.

Of course, 100 years ago to doctors and medical students, football meant rugby.

An upper class profession like doctors would not become involved in the working class game of soccer.

In the 19th and early 20th century snow could also create serious problems.

Most medical care was offered at home by the GP.

Torbay Hospital was the current Castle Chambers building in Torre, slightly smaller than the current hospital and with even less car parking.

The hardy GP would visit the home on his pony and trap.

Until the late 1990s we would visit in our own car which created problems in snowy weather.

I remember one colleague who was called out to an emergency in Livermead.

He was forced to park on the seafront, as the roads up the hill were impossible. He fought his way through the snow to the house carrying his medical bag.

"How can I help?" he asked when finally let in.

"The cat scratched me."

There was a very minor graze to the back of her hand.

But this year the health services are facing problems larger than a cat scratch.

Some pavements are lethal. Accident and Emergency departments have been hectic and GP services stretched. One of the abbreviations in the notes will be FOOH or 'fell on outstretched hand'.

In younger people this may cause a break of the scaphoid bone in the wrist at the base of the thumb.

Older people may get a Collies fracture which is a break involving both bones of the forearm.

Classically this makes the side view of the wrist the shape of a dinner-fork.

Usually the Collies needs to be straightened before putting on plaster and so creates extra work.

And the extra work from all the falls is made worse by staff failing to get in through the icy weather and ambulances having difficulty getting to patients.

This comes after a very busy Christmas and new year.

The figures of Devon Doctors out of hours' service are not yet published but it was a matter of 'all hands to the deck'.

I was called in on the Monday after Christmas when I was not on duty to sit at Newton Abbot and help with the massive number of phone calls.

As I was only on the phone and not seeing patients I arrived in 'mufti' and sat at the desk for a day in jeans and Torquay United top.

The computer screen was full with several pages of calls. Doctors from all over Devon were tackling the backlog. Many of us were not scheduled to be working and many worked longer shifts than planned.

The day was made even busier by the number of phone calls from people running out of routine prescriptions.

Many people did not realise the day was a bank holiday and the surgeries would be closed. I also dealt with several calls for the 'morning after' contraceptive pill so some people had a good Christmas.

If the cold weather continues the best advice is to stay at home, if possible.

Stay in the warm and look out of the window at the beautiful wintry scene.

I am not as tough as the generation of doctors in 1909 who still played rugby against Harlequins or visited through the snow on a pony and trap.