GPs abandon ship -

Prodicus has just been to the doctor to find that two nurses are running a “minor illness” clinic. They have a little list of "minor" illnesses they feel competent to treat:

• Sore throat
• Earache
• Colds and Flu...

...and one or two other conditions. Actually the "little list" runs to over fifty complaints. Trouble is, these well-meaning quacktitioners do not understand the difference between mild symptoms and minor illness and do not have the diagnostic skills to discriminate between minor and major illness. I challenge any one out there to make their little list of 50 “minor” problems that they would be happy to have treated by a nurse. When you have done that, take a look at the full list here.

Now I will give you a little list. A list of, say, three dangerous, possibly even life-threatening conditions that could be behind each “minor” symptom that you mention. That’s the mental card index that diagnosticians flick through every time they see a patient. All nursy can do is reach for the protocol.

I think GPs who employ nurses to do this sort of work should be shot.