Too Many Patients
Sir, — In a recent Editorial, ‘A Shortage of Doctors’, you wrote, ‘So many patients attend the out-patients’ clinic of the City Hospital that the doctors cannot possibly give them all a thorough examination.’
This is not true. A large number of the people in the clinic waiting-room are not patients. They arc friends and relatives of patients. The average number 5
of patients who attended the clinic each day in March always a busy month was 72. There are six doctors on full-time duty at the clinic from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. This means that on an average day each doctor sees only 12 patients. He can usually spend at least 30 minutes with each patient. This
is normally sufficient time for a thorough examination. 10
The problem at the out-patients’ clinic is not the number of patients who attend but the number who attend at the same time. Most of the patients like to come to the clinic in the mornings. This means that they must often wait 2 hours before a doctor can see them. This problem would be solved if patients who are not seriously ill came to the clinic in the afternoons.
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Yours faithfully, Director, City Hospital.