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Innocence revisited
Shortness of breath on a Sunday evening
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Innocence revisited
Innocence revisited
Abstract
Maintaining skills in performing invasive procedures is more difficult now that medicine has become so compartmentalised. Dr Thomson, a Canberra gastroenterologist, recalls when he performed an invasive procedure he had not done for many years – an ironic tale of scarcity amongst plenty.
Key Points
The confusing message from the nursing supervisor of the private hospital startled me: ‘You did a barium meal on a lady called Mrs X today and she’s now got severe abdominal pain.’
The supervisor was insistent, saying a patient’s husband had rung the private hospital directly, looking for a bed for his wife. The only things I had done there that day were to consult and do a ward round. I didn’t feel inclined to remind her that gastroenterologists do not ‘do’ barium meals and nowadays in fact rarely order them.
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