1 May 2001 Doctors on the defensive by Dr Michael Fitzpatrick Instead of complaining about stress and making militant gestures, doctors should abandon self-indulgent posturing and think critically about the direction of medical practice. The proximity of the general election has no doubt contributed to the unusual volatility of the world of medicine. One thing is clear from the GP tabloids - doctors are angry. Unfortunately, that is the only thing that is clear.
Stress is another recurrent theme.
Whether this is attributed to demanding patients or to the pressures of government reforms, doctors are complaining about increasing levels of anxiety and depression and are resorting to helplines and counselling services to prevent 'burnout'. Every week the GP press reports a new survey revealing unprecedented levels of stress and new measures to deal with it. And reports of doctors driven by stress into taking early retirement feature prominently. Portsmouth GP Lester Russell, who has had enough at 42, is offered as the medical equivalent of Phoenix the calf in a plea for public sympathy for the beleaguered medical profession. One problem with this policy of parading doctors as helpless victims of patients and politicians is that it will be immediately forfeited by the mildest display of militancy.