Having also worked around the highlands and islands, whither I presume this
tale emerged, it doesn't surprise me. While on my 'year out' voc training,
part of which I spent in the islands, some of the consultant staff were
keen to see me employed in the A&E at a local hospital for support and
training of the SHOs who were seconded to the dept on an on-call basis from
their shift work in other specialties. The department was ostensibly run by
ortho - because no one else wanted it. I would have been quite keen to be
involved as much of my experience has been in remote and rural medicine. In
fact, the encouragement was such that I almost looked on it as a fait
accompli...
...until I talked to personnel/management who said they could not see any
need for someone with A&E training to work in the department as it was
running splendidly. I pointed out that I had been attending the M&Ms and
from an A&E perspective it certainly was not (some of the cases made me
shudder; details off-list, if interested). She politely put the phone down
on me.
so people will continue to die, be left bedbound, or hemiplegic (just some
of the cases I saw), but the department is running just fine. The SHOs have
no A&E training because there's no one there to give it, and to be fair,
they are training in other specialties anyway, so their interest is going
to be limited.
The challenge of these small rural hospitals is one that must be taken up
SOON, for the sake of the people who live in these regions and their
unwavering belief that once they get to the hospital 'everything' will be
done to save them.
BTW, almost none of the cases I'm referring to was trauma, or even that
rare a presentation, so the 'once in a blue moon' defence can't be used.
Fiona Wallace
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