Mere Child Becomes Health Minister

[Uhtred]

A relative of mine (by marriage) is a consultant surgeon at a large London hospital. He has commented to me previously that there are instances, particularly in the case of small medical communities/hospitals, where the medics become too close and that their willingness and objectivity to challenge one another’s professional practice and competence is eroded, often to the detriment of standards. He went on to say that what exacerbates this is the general acceptance on the part of patients that the doctors can be relied upon to be correct and that there is a social norm that we do not robustly challenge medical opinion (although this is changing). To what extent this insular medical mentality is true on the Island, if at all, perhaps we shall never know.

A neighbour of mine, now retired, was a nurse at Noble’s for many years. She observed on a number of occasions that there were several senior doctors at Noble’s who regarded themselves as an elite and who were unlikely to heed the opinions either of other medics, other healthcare professionals such as nurses, or management. This, she claimed, was particularly true of a group of consultants drawn from within the same specialism.

If there is some kind of undercover medical auditor on the prowl – which seems a little far-fetched really – let’s hope any poor medical practice, wherever located, is brought to light and corrected.