Sir, - I read with interest Dr Muiris Houston's column of June 26th in which he gave GPs a whiff of what the health board chief executive officers have in store for us. Whip us into shape, and all that.
Dr Houston was giving us some details from the latest health board masterpiece, "Developing General Medical Practice".
One little gem stands out: "Early detection of cancer would be facilitated by written protocols to ensure the urgent referral of patients to hospital." On page 3 of the same edition of your paper, I read: "A woman who has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and requires chemotherapy treatment for her condition was twice yesterday refused admission to the Mater Hospital in Dublin, the High Court has been told.
"The woman was informed that no bed was available for her." I rest my case. -_ Yours, etc.,
Dr Gerard Caffrey, Brownstown, Co Kildare.