Hello, my name is… Pericles
Pericles the Porter, pushes death one-way.
Are born, will die.
The mortuary trolley anonymous, metal-grey. Loud wheels on lino.
He didn’t know her, Bed 3.2, by the window, the nurse said.
Was she old, too old for this?
Did she not have sons and daughters, grandchildren?
Pericles the Architect, in another, recent, life,
Forced to flee Greek austerity,
For this.
Now pushing corpses, soon-to-be corpses, and the lucky ones,
Masks askew in lifts, coughing and agitated.
He offers accented words of comfort,
And accepts the risks, without choice.
As he accepts the xenophobia of this so-proud island refuge.
The irony of the word’s Greek-ness not lost.
This Pericles, the name a grandmotherly gift, soldiers on,
For family at home.
And that Pericles, the ancient Greek; sage General,
The Acropolis his lasting monument,
So strong of speech,
Fearsome advocate of democracy;
What would he say?
“Don’t hide from necessary decisions. Protect the weak.”
He died of plague in Athens, many did.
Pericles the Porter mops his forehead.
Unaware, the fever there, harbinger of the approaching viral storm.
So soon this trolley will be his.
No monument for him on
The Athenian skyline.
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Are you sitting comfortably?
Thanks to Covid19, telemedicine is underway. At last.
So many potential positives for both patients and their health professionals: less travel, no parking, more time-efficient, more convenient, more flexible.
I’ve been counting how many patients ‘don’t attend’ – very few; I do a couple of call-backs if they’re not available. Plus 90% of my patients would have attended out-patients by car or taxi so that’s a significant reduction in pollution, parking and traffic. I ask at the end, ” Was that OK?” Older patients often tell me “I was worried, but it went much better than I thought”
I’m listening more. I let people tell me their story. There’s no non-verbal cues, computer screens or clocks to cut things short. It does sometimes feel like they haven’t had anyone to talk to for a while.
The Royal College of Physicians and the British Medical Association recommend clear introductions, checking it’s OK to talk and using a good phone microphone in a quiet room. All good.
Me: ‘…..Is it OK to talk now?” Traffic noise. ‘Yes, absolutely, I’m just in the post office.’
‘Can you tell me what medicines you’re on?’ Pause; mumble; ‘Hold on a minute, I’m just on the toilet.’
Halfway through a colleague’s consultation:
‘Doctor, can you hold on a moment, please…..I need to get down the ladder off the roof.’
So now I ask- are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin.