KT reasons well and faithfully, as usual.
Today, I had a telephone call during evening surgery from the wife of a man
with shoulder pain, who she described as being "in agony" for several
months. I injected the shoulder six months ago, but the pain recurred two
months later.
I offered her an appointment for him tomorrow morning, but she declined on
the basis that "his boss won't let him have time off work for any reason"
and asked if I could see him after seven in the evening or at the weekend(!)
and seemed surprised when I suggested that a medical problem severe enough
to warrant seeing a doctor is also severe enough to take an hour off work.
She then told me that his boss had not allowed him to take his holiday
entitlement last year(!!) and would not take kindly to even an hour off! I
was under the impression that such working conditions are illegal in this
country, and suggested that he either needs a solicitor or a psychiatrist,
and that I'd be happy to see him just as soon as he develops the backbone
needed to tell his slave-driver where to get off.
The fact that she expected her GP to comply with this abusive relationship
is an indication of how little we are valued by the public. If we comply
with the wishes of the people to be available at all hours, our public value
rating will sink ever lower.
We should stand up for ourselves, and preserve our precious time with our
families. If we don't, we'll only have ourselves to blame :-(
John.
Dr John Caldwell Liverpool England
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