Medical confessions, page 1

Medical confessions

www.guardian.co.uk

Ever wondered if doctors are frightened of catching what you've got? What their notes really mean? Or how to get round their receptionist? We asked five doctors to spill the beans.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Interviews by Robert Hudson

Dr Everything General practice
Dr Child Paediatrics
Dr Cancer Oncology
Dr Gynae Women's health
Dr Mind Psychiatry

When are the best and worst times to be admitted to hospital?

Dr Cancer Worst time: junior doctor handover in the first weeks of February and August.

Dr Mind Worst time is Friday and Saturday night when the drunken kids are out beating themselves up, crashing cars and overloading hospitals.

Dr Child A&E is very unpredictable. Urgent situations will be dealt with quickly, regardless of how busy the department is.

Dr Everything Best time is when there is no alternative. Worst time is on Christmas Eve or Good Friday with an unknown condition. Hospitals are understaffed over weekends and bank holidays. Usually cover is arranged for junior staff, but consultant rounds are rare and haphazard.

If I go to a major teaching hospital, will I get a better doctor?

Dr Everything You will get more learned [specialist] consultants who can distinguish between dermatofibrosarcoma [a potentially malignant skin tumour] and a mole, but you might not get an experienced generalist who can quickly assure you that the dizzy spells, shortness of breath, tingling in your lips, hands and feet are the effects of a panic attack, as opposed to those of phaeochromocytoma [adrenal gland tumour], without inserting certain probes.

Dr Cancer You will generally get better junior doctors looking after you, which makes all the difference.

Dr Mind Many teaching-hospital doctors are preoccupied with research, publishing papers and advancing their academic careers. Watch out for these.
People complain that hospitals are dehumanising. Are they?

Dr Gynae Lack of privacy and poor food are problems, but the real crisis is shortage of nurses.

Dr Cancer When you see the effort that goes into some patients, you would say no. However, parts of the NHS with high throughput are always going to be slightly dehumanising.