I have always had the feeling that doctors were a tad dishonest, when it comes to practicing what they preach.Statistically doctors tend to drink, smoke and take drugs more than the average bloke in the street.
Yet they are more than happy to jump on Nanny's anti food, drink and smoking bandwagon, and harp on to us about how bad our lifestyles are.
However, when push comes to shove, they are more than happy to practice that old maxim of Nanny's "do as I say, not as I do".
A fine example of this hypocritical approach (there is a doctor type joke in the title by the way folks!) comes from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP).
The College have stated in public that all-day drinking "flies in the face of common sense".
Which is good to know.
These people don't get it, do they?
The fact that a bar might be open for longer than normal, does not mean that 100% of the population will sit in the bar drinking for 24 hours non stop.
However, notwithstanding their medical advice against all day drinking, they have nonetheless applied for the bar in their London headquarters and conference centre at Regent's Park to remain open until midnight.
The bar will remain open for 15 hours a day, from 9am to midnight.
Surely that "flies in the face of common sense"?
Not according to the RCP; for you see Ladies and Gentlemen, being doctors they know how to drink sensibly (something that you and I, as mere mortals, do not know how to do).
Their spokesman said:
"As a major conference centre, the College must have a licence in order to be able to serve alcohol with conference dinners and other functions.
The small extension we have applied for is to bring us into line with other conference centres, and to respond to client demand.
There is no bar at the College, nor are there any areas where alcohol can be ordered and consumed in unlimited quantities. All alcohol must be ordered in advance to accompany a specific function, usually conference dinners.
We would not have applied for an extension to our licence if we felt that this would lead to an increase in alcohol intake, it is simply to allow clients to have more flexibility over timing of events."
Physician heal thyself!
Conference Dinners....at 9 AM???
ReplyDeleteDoctors overseas seem to be far more relaxed about things like drinking than those employed by Nanny's NHS.
I had a routine check up at a clinic in Kuala Lumpur..(great service, far more efficient than anything Nanny's NHS can offer) and of course, the questions about drinking etc came up.
Ready for the usual lectures about the risk of liver damage etc, I braced myself and admitted that I enjoyed wine and the local beer.The only thing I was advised by the lovely Indian doctor was to change from white to red wine.
Oh the bliss of being treated like an adult
As an elderly retired doctor, I have to say that the BMA seems to have been taken over by the left-liberal PC mob.
ReplyDeleteI resigned from the BMA last year when I received an email asking me to support a parliamentry lobbying enterprise aimed at banning smoking in public places. A pre written email was supplied advocating the ban, and which I was invited to endorse. It seemed that the lobbying people were in residence in Westminster, pushing away at the MPs.
I do not smoke and of course would never advise anyone to start, but I developed the view over years that my duty as a doctor was to advise, educate, and encourage good health, not to enforce it.
I assume that the "conference dinners" these esteemed persons of medical science attend are generally intended to be working events. If that's the case, what possible benefit could the consumption of alcohol bring?
ReplyDeleteI'm forming a mental picture of a roundtable conference of thoroughly "lit up" doctors discussing the latest in surgical procedures. Mayb that's why malpractice suits are more common than ever now.