|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
iPod Insanity Grips Wannabe-Groovy GMC
Recently, however, my pontifications on that very subject were cut off in mid invective by news of a concept so bizarre, so utterly daft, that I simply couldn’t find the words to express my disbelief. It appears that the General Medical Council, that august body entrusted, however unwisely, with regulation of the medical profession, is running a poster competition. Oh, and they’re giving away free iPods to the winners, too. Can this really be the solemn, self-important GMC that we know and detest? The one that thinks the man in the street gives a damn about what they do, or even knows who they are? Well, yes, it can, and the evidence is there on the GMC’s website for all to see, although I didn’t believe it until I went to see for myself. Of course, it isn’t the man (or the woman) in the street that the GMC is interested in – it’s the children, or, at least, persons under the age of 18. Apparently, the GMC is industriously preparing guidelines on how doctors should behave towards young people, and would like samples of same to contribute their views – hence the iPod bribe and poster competition to attract specimens. Above and beyond any of the other all-too-numerous examples that one could hold out, this hair-brained scheme clearly shows that the GMC is completely out of touch with reality. Do they really think they’re going to get an accurate cross-section of views from the “yoof of today”? Let’s face it, the vast majority of teenagers know nothing, and care nothing, about the GMC. A small proportion of the more intelligent, better educated, specimens might be interested, but they tend to be from wealthier backgrounds anyway – what will they need with an extra iPod? Of course, a few will be spurred on to make the attempt by the promise of having the winning poster used as the cover artwork on the new guidelines– there’s always someone who wants to be famous, eh? But these industrious glory hunters will constitute a tiny proportion of teenagers and kids. The rest – the overwhelmingly huge majority - will be too busy glued to the TV, or hanging out on street corners waiting for their chance to mug an old lady or break into a car. Not for them the joys of a purely artistic pursuit – unless, of course, it’s a neatly crafted getaway from that police car that’s chasing them (but not chasing too fast, of course, we wouldn’t want the little darlings to hurt themselves if they crash that stolen car they’re driving, would we?). Again, an iPod isn’t going to attract these folks – they’ve already stolen all the iPods they can carry from the aforesaid wealthier kids. But even if they could be persuaded to express (I use the term loosely) their views, would they be of any use whatsoever to the GMC? In their view, doctors are posh gits who keep telling them to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop taking drugs – killjoys, in other words. And, when the side effects of their nefarious pastimes catch up with them and they’re feeling a bit poorly, doctors are the posh gits who are never there when you need them, make you wait for hours in the hospital and days for a GP appointment. And they never make house calls these days, which makes it so annoyingly difficult to mug them and steal their supplies of drugs. Any way you look at it, the GMC is never going to address these points in their new guidelines (and nor should they!). So, the GMC is going to a great deal of trouble to obtain the views of a tiny, unrepresentative, fraction of unusually talented, intelligent and well educated young people, will reward one of them with a superfluous addition to their iPod collection and make them even more obnoxiously smug (you just know it will be a smug bugger that wins) than they already are by plastering their pseudo-artistic scrawl all over the back of these much-vaunted new guidelines. Nice move, GMC! Perhaps next time such a puerile notion occurs to them they could: a) Instantly dismiss the no doubt highly paid consultant who made them feel so warm and fuzzy over engaging with the nation’s youth by participating in such a badly thought out scheme; and
Naturally, I hold out absolutely no hope that the GMC will take these comments on board. They’re clearly far too enamoured with the prospect of being cool and offering free iPods to care much about reality. Hmm, no change there, then! In the meantime, perhaps someone could write to them and explain what an iPod actually is – I’m sure there must be a few case examiners, at least, who are too afraid to ask. James Landon.
|
|
|
|
|
[Home] [NHS Exposed] [Patients] [Health Workers] [NHS in Crisis] [Legal Issues] [Media] [Helpdesk] [Public Views] All copyright remains with original authors unless otherwise stated. |
It's
not often that I'm lost for words. Admittedly, a substantial proportion
of them may be unrepeatable in polite company, particularly when I'm discussing
the General Medical Council, but, even so, I'm fairly well provisioned
in the utterances department.
b)
Interview some members of the Fitness to Practise Directorate (or whatever
they’re calling it this week) instead. It’s cheaper, doesn’t
make them look so stupid, and the answers will be pretty much indistinguishable
from the grunts of a typical teenage Kevin.