> Slightly tempting to reply en masse
> to the reply by Jowett though
> (http://bmj.com/cgi/eletters/324/7334/422#1978). Maybe I should just chill
> out. I'm amazed they had e-mail in whatever year this guy is replying from.
What's wrong with Jowett's reply about bypassing Causality departments and
going straight to the medical ward.
The patient probably only got chest pain in the first place when they saw
the waiting time for their two-week-old stubbed toe injury.
Besides, Matron on the ward can give them a good stiff cup of tea and a
biscuit (don't forget the sugar in the tea - good for the treatment of
shock[1]), and when the consultant has finished his ward round and
sandwiches the Junior Houseman can use one of those new-fangled EKG gadgets
that Gerry keeps inventing.
Of course if he hasn't died by this time, he should be ok for his 3 weeks
strict bed rest (that's what us GPs call 'using time as a diagnostic tool'
or 'he ain't dead yet so it couldn't have been that bad after all').
After all, a rose by any other name. It doesn't matter what you call people
- old fogey or consultant physician
- Arnold George Dorsey or Engelbert Humperdinck
- Marrion Morrison or John Wayne
- Geordie Geography teacher Gordon Sumner or Sting
I'm sure all of the above would be just as successful in their chosen field
with either title - the public just isn't daft enough to think a name
matters.
Glad we sorted that one out then.....
Robbie Coull
email: [log in to unmask] website: http://www.coull.net
[1] St Johns Ambulance First Aid Handbook (published 1942, p36) - who says I
don't practice EBM!
==^=========================================================================
ATTENTION GPs, NHS TRUSTS and LOCUM DOCTORS
visit http://www.locum123.com the online locum messaging service by doctors
for doctors and send or receive requests for locum cover by SMS and email
==^=========================================================================
|