Sir, – I think the problems with the health service arise because of the abundance of technological equipment, which is, after all, designed to assist diagnosis rather than to take the place of a proper physical examination. When I trained in the 1960s, we were required to make a diagnosis on the basis of a patient history and a physical exam. We used the technology to confirm our diagnosis, not as a substitute for using the medical skills we spent years training to acquire.
So many patients are scheduled for tests before they see a physician, or spend days occupying a hospital bed while undergoing scans and scopes through every orifice.
Again it is only quite recently that we have learned of physicians suffering from “burnout”, which is often related to the fear of being sued. Many of the suits are quite frivolous.
One should remember that those who choose to spend years in training in the medical field are usually driven by a sense of altruism. – Yours, etc,
Dr CATHERINE LLOYD,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.