In recent times, something which has repeatedly passed through my mind is the memory of our family doctor administering a morphine injection to me in my bedroom at around three-o-clock in the morning (some time in the sixties) after my wife had telephoned him in desperation as I experienced my first kidney stone. I seem to recall this may not have been the only time he carried out this procedure; and all of them without the slightest suggestion that this may have been beyond his call of duty.
I also remember my father telling me how, on another occasion, he happened to be attending the same doctor's morning surgery and proudly announcing that, in the early hours of that same morning, his daughter-in-law (my wife) had caused him to become grandfather for the first time. To which the doctor responded, without a hint of irony, ".....and who do you suppose delivered the child?"
So, as I watch the Junior Doctors' dispute escalate, I find myself wondering what our old doctor would have made of the way the issue has developed; and whether he would think the action is in the true spirit of the BMA founding father's wish (according to the BMA web-site) for a 'friendly and scientific’ forum where doctors could advance and exchange medical knowledge - instead of the trade union action which it seems to have become. Come to think of it, the behaviour of some Junior Doctors (megaphones, placards, chanting) is more akin to those of militant trade unionists than responsible professionals (IMHO).
I also remember my father telling me how, on another occasion, he happened to be attending the same doctor's morning surgery and proudly announcing that, in the early hours of that same morning, his daughter-in-law (my wife) had caused him to become grandfather for the first time. To which the doctor responded, without a hint of irony, ".....and who do you suppose delivered the child?"
So, as I watch the Junior Doctors' dispute escalate, I find myself wondering what our old doctor would have made of the way the issue has developed; and whether he would think the action is in the true spirit of the BMA founding father's wish (according to the BMA web-site) for a 'friendly and scientific’ forum where doctors could advance and exchange medical knowledge - instead of the trade union action which it seems to have become. Come to think of it, the behaviour of some Junior Doctors (megaphones, placards, chanting) is more akin to those of militant trade unionists than responsible professionals (IMHO).
