Sir, – Dr Brendan Crowley (December 27th) writes of the case of an 84-year-old lady with Alzheimer's disease whose medical card was cancelled as the HSE received no reply to its validation exercise. For this he personally blames the Minister for Health and insults him by suggesting Dr Reilly cares more about cars than people.
Advocacy on behalf of one’s patients, an integral part of the duty of a general practitioner, is demeaned by such low-ball attacks. Blaming the Minister for every action of the HSE is as illogical as expecting the HSE to know the personal circumstances of the particular patient involved.
GPs have a history of not telling the HSE when their patients have died and it is therefore not unreasonable to frequently check on those whose longevity has surpassed the statistical life expectancy.
Better behaviour by all concerned would be helpful. – Yours, etc,
Dr MAIT O FAOLAIN,
General Practitioner,
Beechwood Court,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.