Dear Doctor
by Rod Hamon
Dear Doctor,
I am writing
to inform you that from now on I will be
attending the surgery of another doctor. Whilst I
thank you for the services you have rendered I
feel it only fair to explain why I have made this
decision.
Like you, I
too am frequently in the public eye and therefore
appreciate the importance of providing good
service. What I have to say is given with the
best of intentions, to be constructive and is not
meant to offend.
On a number of
occasions I have come to see you with a medical
problem hoping to be cured but have left without
a satisfactory diagnosis or treatment.
For example on
one occasion I mentioned that for some time I had
had an intense pain in my stomach. You may recall
that you sent me for an ultrasound examination. I
was to call at your surgery a few days later for
the results. However when I did, your
receptionist looked at the report briefly and
said, “The doctor doesn’t need to see
you.”
This puzzled
me because the intense pain in my stomach
remained. It was as if I were being told,
“We can’t see anything wrong so
don’t worry about it.”
On another
more recent occasion I came to you with a severe
sore throat that I had had for over a month.
Following your examination I was told, with a
shrug of the shoulders, “Can’t find
anything wrong, don’t worry, it’ll go
away.”
I am very
displeased with your lack of thoroughness and
hence my reason for going elsewhere. May I again
emphasize that I am only trying to be helpful and
hope that my candid words will be helpful to you.
There is just
one further matter I’d like to raise and
that is, what people used to call, a doctor’s
bedside manner. I am referring to the fact that
you seem to show very little personal interest in
your patients as people. For example you rarely
ask about their situations at home, about their
hobbies or about their jobs. I would have felt
much more comfortable if you had shown some
interest in me. I am sure you would have been
quite interested in my job at the circus.
At the moment
I’m learning a new routine: the high wire
act. It is challenging and of course dangerous
but far better than what I was doing before.
I’d been doing my previous act for six
months and felt a change was needed.
I’m glad
I did because the pain in my stomach and my sore
throat seem to have completely gone since I
stopped doing the sword-swallowing act.
Yours
faithfully
Jeremy Blogs
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