Don’t blame frontline medical staff for absenteeism

I was very impressed recently when I was sent by my GP to the Emergency& Department of Cork Mercy Hospital.

I handed the letter given to me by my GP to the reception office and was directed to take a seat in a nearby waiting room. Five minutes later my name was called out by a nurse who was reading my doctor’s letter.

She took me to the cubicle and did some tests after attaching me to an electronic machine which began churning out reams of paper. She then took me to another room and told me that the doctor would come soon which he did after a few minutes. He did a physical check as he had already read what was on the scans of paper and told me that I was ok and gave me a letter for my GP.