A phone call put through in the middle of a busy morning surgery. Would I speak to Mrs Smith about her two year old son, Tom. She says it is very urgent. Mrs Smith sounded agitated. Tom had had a bit of a cough all night, but had now developed a high temperature and was not taking fluids. She really did sound flustererd. "Bring him down, and I will squeeze him in now" I said.

"I can't bring him down now, I am at work."

"You mean, you are not with him?"

"No he is at the childminders. She has just phoned me and she sounds worried."

"Well, get her to bring him down then" I said.

"She cannot leave the house, she has other children to look after. Could you not just pop round and see him?"

Tom had been quite off colour when mum dropped him off at the childminders before going to work this morning.  She only works three miles away. She has a busy and demanding job but I can't get my mind round middle class parents who prioritise in this way. I have four children. None of them has ever been to the doctor without a parent. It seems now that not only have we to be available all the time, we are to be expected to visit children on demand to fit in with the child-minding arrangements.

I asked her when she finished work, and suggested an evening appointment. That was not good enough. Mum wanted him to be seen immediately. I repeated that we would see Tom just as soon as she could get him down to the health centre. Not good enough, she wanted a visit. I refused.

"Right then, if you are not prepared to visit I shall go and get him and take him to the hospital"

"Ah! So you can leave work then."

She slammed the phone down. It is odd that some people think that threatening to take a child to the hospital is some sort of lever to produce an inappropriate home visit. It is not. 

I am sure there will be comments from Tom's mother clones expressing disgust that I did not drop everything and rush round to the childminders. Tough. This is why the NHS is falling to bits. No healthcare system can cater for outrageous, selfish demands like this.

Have another BMW.