Last Friday night was very busy in our Department
At 9 pm the place was crazy and I was asked to help our young
orthopaedic registrar by giving some ketamine to a 7 year old child with
a rather nasty paronychia of a little toe. I was somewhat surprised to
find one of our senior orthopaedic surgeons sitting by the patient. The
patient was his son.
"It really is pretty awful out there John" said my colleague with some
sincerity.
"I know it is" said I noting and trying to cover the bloodstains on my
shirt
"Thank goodness we have connections and did not have to wait like the
others" said my colleague quite humbly
Everything went well and we discussed the rediscovery of ketamine etc
etc
I write this as we prepare a document for our management board to ask
for more staff and more space to treat our patients more efficiently. A
presentation for a group of people who all have "connections".
At the end of the presentation one of them will surely ask. "How can we
persuade more of the patients to go to their GP instead. Then you might
not need an increase in resources?". Then could follow a long discussion
about everything but the ED staffing situation.
I suppose that they will mean some of the "others". It never ceases to
amaze me how intelligent people can be judgemental about (other) people
who present to the Emergency Department, why they are there and what
there needs really are.
I had a fleeting impression that my orthopaedic colleague had suddenly
got the point on Friday evening. But I wouldn't bet on it.
Dr John Chambers
Clinical Leader
Emergency CPG
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