I keep thinking about the dichotomy between covering a lot of ground and getting to the point.

The other day I saw my bosses at one of my clinics stop in their tracks when I suggested that a lot of the things we are measured on as physicians could be turned into standing orders and simply get shifted off my plate.

I have just created a letter that anybody can send on my behalf to any patient of mine who hasn’t been screened for colon cancer; it’ll look like I sent it, which is fine, because I support it, but I shouldn’t have to crowd my glorious 15 minutes with that too in addition to the diabetes and depression and whatever else I need to address.

I seriously believe that doctors have somehow been excluded from the theory of ‘working to the top of your licence’.