Angry Doctor vs Cameron & Clegg

On one level I sympathise with the consultants anger at journalists not following the correct hygiene regime but mostly I find the arrogance and rudeness sadly typical of the self important, jumped up little hitlers that are all too evident in our health service, especially at consultant level.



If you listen to what he's actually complaining about, it's not that the hygiene of the ward is at risk from the tie wearing journos, but that "we", as in him and his colleagues, have been made to remove ties etc. (whether he means just for that day or always is unclear). In reality, he's offended by the presence of the prime minister and his deputy and outraged that his entourage should be allowed to break a rule.

One has to wonder why he didn't take this up with the ward sister who is responsible for hygiene on the ward and who asked Cameron and Clegg to remove their ties but not the journalists. I suspect he just wanted to show how much more important he was than the visitors he had on his ward and the staff running it, despite the great publicity they were bringing to his hospital (until he turned up).

"I'm not having it", he exclaims as he is ushered away by mortified managers and more level headed colleagues. Any normal concerned professional would have been asking questions of those very same managers and ward staff as to why the rules were allowed to be broken. The ward sister must be furious. It's her domain of responsibility after all. Now, if Cameron was suggesting what kind of operation the patient should have on his leg, then fair enough. The senior orthopaedic surgeon would have been rightly outraged at such temerity and impertinence. But instead he's lost his rag over the apparel of some journalists.

I think this illustrates something I've observed in my dealing with the medical profession and, to varying extents with other professions. That is the almost total and unquestioning respect and deference these people receive from those around them for achieving the position they have. While most deserve the respect and don't let it go to their heads some, like this chap, truly believe they are above everyone else, not just in terms of attainment, which is often true, but they actually believe they are better, more important than all those around them. In this case, he believes he's better than the managers, the ward sister and the prime minister and his deputy.

It can't be healthy when such deferential treatment produces such utter arses. It's certainly been my experience that NHS consultants are not infallible. Given their mistakes can cost lives, a bit of humility might not go amiss and may even make them better healers, as well as people.