http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/323/7304/70/a
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News
BMA president warns doctors not to take public esteem for granted
Richard Smith
Doctors should not take their public esteem for granted and should be
careful about exaggerating the difficulties faced by the NHS. These
were two of the main messages delivered by David Carter, the former
chief medical officer of Scotland and now president of the BMA, at
his inauguration at the BMA's annual meeting at Bournemouth.
"We have not been fleet of foot," said Professor Carter, "in
keeping up with public expectations." Doctors should recognise that
the world has changed dramatically. Professor Carter described attending
a meeting with parents immediately before the publication of the
Alder Hey report on the retention of organs from children who had
died.
"I was shocked by the raw emotion at that meeting. Pathologists seemed
to be in the dock, but it was the whole medical profession that
should have been there. The parents were furious that nobody had
told them what was happening and that many of the organs taken for
research had never been used."
He said that doctors must not simply look to the government to sort out the
problems of the health service: "The BMA should take the high
ground and make constructive proposals on developing the health
service."
"I've always loved being a doctor, and I'd hate to see us promoting
such a negative image that young people will cease to want to be
doctors. We should be encouraging our children to go into medicine,
not discouraging them."
"I can sign up ethusiastically," said Professor Carter, "to
the BMA's Agenda for Change. It calls for even higher professional standards,
better regulation of the profession, and more openness with patients."
"The government is increasing substantially its investment in the
health service, but it will never be enough. The BMA is right to
call for more resources, but we need to work with the government to
spend the extra resources wisely. New doctors cannot be created
overnight, and we should avoid draining doctors from countries like
South Africa which have far greater problems to face than us in
Britain."
Professor Carter also made a call for inequalities in health to be high on
the agenda. "In Scotland we have gross inequalities. A man from
Shettleston in Glasgow has a life expectancy of only 68 [10
years below that in some other parts of Britain]. Over 80% of the
very poorest children in Scotland live in Glasgow, compared with 4%
in Edinburgh. Yet Edinburgh has twice as many doctors and nurses per
head delivering services for these children."
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