The situation IS outrageous. The remedy, if not the cure, is for the public to pay less attention to often inaccurate and scaremongering “ stories “ put out by the " news " media. Medically qualified doctors who are capable of good communication would be better than either NHS spin doctors or health journalists.

Dame Sally Davies – Chief Medical Officer for England – is, in my opinion, a good communicator. But she’s hardly a typical doctor, and doesn’t have too much time for her clinical specialty ( blood disorders / haematology ) these days. Similarly, a role of medical directors in NHS trusts - or lead doctors in English Clinical Commissioning Groups - is communication. This is over and above management meetings and ( to retain credibility and sanity ) continuing to work in their chosen medical specialty .

The challenge for doctors to take on these roles is to divide their time between management, clinical duties, and their private life. Clinical duties come first – by default non-medics / spin doctors dominate management, and private life suffers.