Madam, - I have just attended one of our leading clinics for a consultation on a hearing problem. From start to finish, the entire episode took less than 20 minutes. The procedure was as follows: two to three minutes of questions, a look into both ears, a look into mouth, a look into nose, tuning fork to both ears, tuning fork to forehead. "I need to send you for a hearing test and an MRI scan and then come back to me."
His secretary made the two appointments, adding: "That will be €180, please".
As the secretary printed out my invoice, I saw on her desk a list of patients at the rate of four an hour for at least five hours.
Considering that consultants are having a major whinge about their financial situation at the same time as nurses are looking for a decent wage and reasonable hours, I hope that the nurses have a far better result than the consultants. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL HEALY, Newtownpark Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.