The Doctor Will See You Now [Non-Fiction]

Chapter 73: General Medicine

OPD.

A 70-year-old man comes in for his diabetes and blood lipids review. I tell him things seem stable, so we'll continue the meds, and see him in half a year.

"But he's been getting these knee pains..." his wife says. I sigh internally. Another list for me to manage.

Knee pains for several years, worse on walking. She says it's probably wear and tear (osteoarthritis). I agree. I advise him on regular painkillers and exercise as tolerated.

"Won't you refer him to a specialist?" she says.

Why? Unless he wants a knee replacement (he says no) then management for knee arthritis is exercise and painkillers, not a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon. I offer him an x-ray and physiotherapy. The wife asks how long the physiotherapy referral wait will be. I say the average waiting time is over a year, maybe even two.

"But that's super long! Even if he's not really bad now, he will be by that time!"

"It's the average waiting time."

She seems to take it like a personal insult that a free referral to see a physiotherapist takes so long in an already-stretched-thin system.

"That's ridiculous!" she repeats her previous line, still sounding offended.

"You can go private," I say. "They'll see you within a week, no doubt."

"Of course we can't go private!" She looks at me like I'm an idiot. "If we can afford private, we wouldn't be here!"

"Well, you can't expect fast, quality service for free. Good luck looking for something that nice," I say. She shuts up.