Consultus Interruptus

Abstract

An acquaintance of mine, who is now a psychiatrist, left general practice because it was "a life of continual interruptions". I hope he found peace. To do so he would have had to remove two things, people and telephones. It is a sad fact that there are few of us around who can control our working environments. Even as I type this I can hear it ringing in the hall. I have just returned - it was a wrong number. Now where was I. We were on the subject of interruptions. It boils down to a balance between availability and being pestered into paranoid telephonic tinnitus. If you don't take the calls you are not accessible and then you don't save time sorting out the minor from the major problems and if you do take them your day is 'a life of continual interruptions.