Once more unto the breach

[摘要] Waiting list initiatives were a temporary measure. They were a short-term 6-month or perhaps year-long strategy, after which we would all be back on target. They were expensive. A list of hip replacements on a Saturday netted the surgeon and anaesthetist a few hundred pounds, plus suitable sweeteners for the theatre staff. Replace the past tense with the present. Some years down the line, they are still happening. There can be three or four weekend operating lists, and they've now crept into the working week as well, as managers frantically try to clear patients about to ‘breach’. This word is the most important in the NHS. Operating lists give the name, number and operation. They sometimes give important medical information, such as ‘Diabetic: first on list’, or ‘Latex allergy’. Now they also feature the breach date. The closer is the operating date to the breach date, the more likely that a manager will appear in the theatre suite, sweating slightly as they anxiously check the progress of the list.

[学科分类] 卫生学