Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Farewell, Farewell

Continue in low mood; work has presented me with considerable flail, more than I ever banked on; more than I need right now... so, I'm not sure I'll be much of an author for a little while. Not long, I hope, but for now, a little hiatus.

Be Well, one and all... until the next time our paths should cross.

Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call

And will you never return to see
Your bruised and beaten sons?
"Oh, I would, I would, if welcome I were
For they love me, every one"

And will you never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be?
And can you never swear a year
To anyone of we?

"No, I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I'll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me"

Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
(C) Warlock Music; reproduced without permission. Lyrics: Richard Thompson

Friday, October 03, 2008

Thought For The Day

You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.

HENRY KISSINGER (1923-)

Thursday, October 02, 2008

My New Favourite Quote

There are, in fact, two things, science and opinion;
the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance

Hippocrates

Borrowed from Trick or Treatment, by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. I commend it to you.

Why I Love Tech...

A pox on iTunes, which took it upon itself to delete several of my Floyd and Stones albums; and no they weren't backed up....

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

A Sort Of Open Reply

If only because some good points were made, and, if I have mis-represented myself, then explanation should be public.

I want to apologise for over-egging the pudding, suggesting that No-One, from the aforementioned NotDrRant laid all the blame at the foot of the docs. And I concur, there are indeed some truly awful docs in the system, and rooting them out has been, and remains, difficult.

I don't object, by and large, to swearing. I swear vigorously myself at any given opportunity, and the example I gave may have given the impression that it was an indirect dig, or slight, aimed at No-One. Not so. My complaint was more in general, and I freely admit that No-One has indeed not named any specifics. But sites do exist where people can, and do; and the lack of a right-of-reply remains. My own experience of this is acute. Where patients want something from the health service, often for a relative, that it cannot provide, their anger often vents at the nearest professional, rather than the system. Sometimes this is justified, sometimes not. Some of my patients seem to think it acceptable to call me a "cunt" to my face, to suggest that I obtained my degree "from the back of a cornflakes box", and then complain about how poorly they were treated....

Anyway, if you wanna swear, swear on. I meant no criticism.

On a more general note... will giving all the power to the patient solve the problem? I doubt it. Just as Doctors weren't meant to be administrators, neither were the bulk of patients. Yes, they can vote with their feet; but turning it truly 'private' might have a few unexpected side effects. Are we, the medics, afraid of having our snouts displaced from the NHS trough? Maybe. Bevan, after all, only swung the agreement of the Consultants in 1948 with a promise to choke their throats with gold.

For me? Makes no odds. I work in Emergency. Voting with your feet is rarely an option, and I expect I'd make more money if you paid for service. I'm all for patient power, but it has to be tempered with the knowledge that, just occasionally, I might know what I'm doing, might know better than you what the best treatment is. Currently, I have no financial stake in how you're treated.

Will I give you better care if I do?

(The answer's "no", by the way...)