Medical consultants with an awful bedside manner: why do they still get away with it?

Sonics2k wrote: »

I fail to see what bedside manner has to do with bloody anything.

Fact of the matter is these men and women work ridiculously long hours saving peoples lives.

I'd rather my Doctor was able to do his job than have to waste time doing compulsory "emotional" training because you're a precious bloody butterfly.

So they're not the most compassionate people in the world. Why don't you try forming an emotional attachment to dozens of people a day, many of whom WILL die soon and tell us how well you do.

Jesus christ of all the stupid things to complain about in this society, you choose the feckin Doctors.

General General wrote: »

If you get the points for medicine, get around the 'but are you the right kind of person' test, get your degree & then put in all the hours that are required after all that, then you probably can't take Fergal Quinn's crowning the customer sh!t seriously.

If you don't like them, then visit the UK, or go learn French & German, see what the Doctors in those worlds are like.

Excellent post OP.

My wife had twins a few years ago, who were born one month premature through emergency Caesarean Section. They were both just over 3lb and were in Intensive care for a few weeks. But anyway, we were tallking to the Nurses (who were great) as we were concerned about their lack of weight gain and inability to feed using a bottle with a teet, (they had to have a tube through their nose). The Nurses were being all solemn and were telling us that Consultant 'X' was due to see us and he would let us know what was happening.
So we met this Consultant who proceeded to tell us in the most robotic, matter-of-fact, totally detached way I have ever seen, that they had to use the nose feed due to the 'Law of diminishing return' and that their brains had not developed enough for them to have the 'suckle reflex'.
Hearing this, my wife broke down and had to leave.

He looked confused.

I was there, being less emotionally drained than my wife, looking at him, wondering what the F*ck was wrong with this guy?
While I could appreciate what he was saying, I was amazed at the total lack of empathy he showed, and he gave the impression hat he was in a rush and didn't really have time to waste.
He was obviously very well educated and had to have a lot of experience to be in the position he was in, but the sheer lack of any interpersonal skills left me bewildered.
I explained that my wife was very upset having to come into ICU and seeing the babies all wired up , not putting on any weight, and then being told that their 'Brains had not developed enough' was too much for her.

The guy was like a Robot, lacking any interpersonal skills and should NOT have been allowed to speak with parents in such an insensitive way.