Residents should not expect hospitals to be responsible for recognising their health ailments, a GP told campaigners against the Whittington’s A&E closure at a public meeting on Thursday.
D r Philippa Curran angered the 400 Islington and Haringey residents gathered at Greig City Academy when she said the onus fell on them to tell hospitals if they had any health issues.
“You will be taken to the hospital in adequate time provided you also take part in the journey,” she said. “You must let us know when you are ill with something serious.”
“It comes down to taking responsibility for your own health,” she added.
Dr Curran’s remarks were met with laughter and outrage from those attending the meeting. She struggled to continue her speech as residents shouted “We are not doctors!”, “How dare you!” and “Stop patronising us!”
Lynne Featherstone, the MP for Hornsey and Wood Green who organised the meeting, was also unimpressed by Dr Curran’s comments.
“She entirely lost the case when she said the responsibility falls on us,” Ms Featherstone said. “What we want is to call 999 and know that they can help you and take you to the hospital. The quicker and nearer, the better.”
Dr Curran, who acts as a medical advisor on future plans for healthcare in the area, later said her remarks had been referring to ‘FAST’, which stands for Face, Arms, Speech and Time, and can be used to alert doctors to the symptoms of stroke.
But Ralph Crisp, a campaigner from Haringey who has used the Whittington for 30 years, said Dr Curran expected too much from the general population.
“What Phillippa suggested is fine for some people but probably only five percent of people can recognize the symptoms,” Mr Crisp said. “What if someone’s having a stroke and they’re by themselves? It’s their job to help us; we’re not doctors.”
He said residents and doctors should be more concerned with other, more common ailments. “What she failed to talk about was A&E admissions,” he said. “We care about critical conditions and accidents. How can we predict those?”
Dr. Curran’s comments were part of a question-and-answer session held for residents concerned about the potential closure of Whittington Hospital’s A&E in Holloway. Rachel Tyndall, chair of the North Central London review panel, and Richard Sumray, the chair of Haringey Primary Care Trust, also spoke at the meeting.
March 15th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
It is always wise to have a NHS GP and a Private Doctor to diagnose the patient’s health condition if in doubt. It is just common sense ! Thank you
March 15th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
I thought Dr Curran’s comments were ludicrous. i was at teh public meeting when she clearly stated we (the patient) should diagnose if we had a medical or surgical complaint before calling 999. as most of us are not medicallly trained we want the professionals to diagnose. we only know when we have an emergency. that’s what 999 and A+E are for. if the PCT had any case Dr Curran blew it for them. i am glad she is not my GP.
March 17th, 2010 at 8:27 am
I agree with Lesley. NHS bosses tell us that their plans for closing the A&E are led by clinicians. But the only clinician they could present us at the meeting to back-up their case was Dr. Curran, who is clearly somewhat incompetent when it comes to assessing the abilities of the majority of patients.
As if we are not already taken responsibility for our own health ! And who in their right mind would not participate in the journey to the A&E ??? It did feel like Dr. Curran thought she was speaking to an audience of drunks, drug addicts and people with advanced dementia. But we were all just ordinary residents and our mental capacity is quite normal.
I don’t really shout in public meetings. It is really NOT my style. But Dr. Currans’ ridiculous remarks infuriated me to such an extent that I fear the “Don’t patronize us” shouting - well - that might have been me.