Home care
Sir: There is no need to admit oneself to a madhouse or get into prison (Richard Vane, Letters, 19 July) to obtain rapid NHS treatment. All that is required is to stay at home. But the patient must be prepared to make a fuss, the amount of which will be inversely proportional to the severity of the illness. If for no better reason than a quiet life, your compatible GP will contact the consultant to expedite an out-patient appointment; however, be- cause clinics are already bulging, an agree- ment is reached whereby the consultant will visit the patient at home. For this undertaking he receives a modest fee. The arrangements governing domiciliary visits are not intended to provide the opportunity to patients to bypass long waiting times for clinic appointments, but, bona fide or not, such visits serve as a safety valve for a creaking NHS. The need to stay at home might be emphasised. When visiting it does not help to have a relative declare that the errant patient will be delayed 20 minutes or so, having gone to play bingo.
H L Muston
Consultant Dermatologist, 23 St John Street, Manchester
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