Sometimes you’ve just gotta love orthopods.
There’s the PM and deputy PM on a ward in Guys doing a lot of ‘listening to patients’ while the TV cameras roll, when the consultant orthopaedic surgeon enters stage right.
Having to wear a bow tie and a short-sleeved shirt combo every day of your working life can take its toll. Especially when some young Jonny-come-lately media types waltz on to your ward holding TV cameras and flaunting their ties and long suit sleeves…
Although I loved this, and wanted to buy him a drink, I thought he might actually have done us quite a bit of harm by acting as the typical arrogant consultant bully-boy. However, the press seem not to have picked up on it to any great extent.
I wondered if he might be Jerry Nelson, but then I realised that a) he was an orthopod, and b) he was taking infection control seriously.
I think you might be on to something with point b) Bob….
http://www.hospitaldr.co.uk/blogs/nelsons-column/infection-control-orthopods-giving-us-a-bad-name
er….
I was approached today by the BBC Radio 4 Broadcasting House programme due on Sunday morning, 9.00am, to comment on the issue.
They have already trailed the item on Friday evening as “grumpy” consultants.
However they have not got back to me so they have obviously found someone else, ??? could it be Jerry?
Looks like he’s got the boot
http://order-order.com/2011/06/22/exclusive-cam-rage-consultant-on-permanent-leave/
Not sure on what grounds. It would be good if he became a cause celebre against this ‘bare between the ears’ nonsense.
I took a different view. What happened was a fine example of the current lack of respect in our country. This was the Prime Minister of our country and, whether you like him or not, or whether you voted for him or not, as the Prime Minister of the country he deserves respect.
What we saw was a loud mouthed, bullying, aggressive man who was out of control. Whatever the rights or wrongs of the control of infection policies it is quite clear that behaviour such as this is quite unacceptable under any circumstances. A violent outburst with the emphasis on violent.
I applaud the Prime Minister (and the astonished Nick Clegg) for remaining so cool.
I am surprised that our orthopaedic colleague could become so excited that the camera crew were NOT following the absurd bare below the elbows diktat imposed by the previous doctor squashing government intended to deprofessionalise Medicine without a shred of evidence that it was relevant to infection control.I would have been more impressed if he had strode onto the media stage dressed in full 3-piece Harley Street uniform with expensive cuffs and cufflinks and then berated Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg for dressing down pretending to be modern regulation doctors dressed more for the pub than a hospital.
I agree with both John and Cassius. The “bare below the elbows” policy is yet another example of the relentless spread of metastasising polytwaddle that pervades our much loved and soon to be late-lamented NHS: perhaps better termed the Nursing Hogwash Service. However, wilfully to berate a hapless camera crew was boorish, silly and childish: or orthopaedic, which is the correct collective term for b+s+c. It would have been more effective to have a quiet word with Matron. Perhaps this incident could be used to trigger a debate about nonsense in the NHS - an opportunity to examine some dearly loved shibboleths. Physiotherapy for low back pain, home childbirth, the NHS internal market….