A Crisis of Empathy
25/3/20
We as medics are taught to be empathetic to a fault, but when fault lines appear in society’s fabric, such as those torn by coronavirus, where is that empathy going to go except down into the cracks.
We are shouted at by patients who dodge the self-isolation protocols. By those who can’t tell us their own medical history without asking us ’to look on the system’. Every day we see the Prime Minister and his advisors on screen telling us ‘it’s crucial’ to self-isolate, to quarantine, to keep people safe, yet mountains like Snowdon see their busiest days in years, pubs see their bowels bulge with punters who want ‘one last pint’ before they close.
And then there are the shops, your everyday Tesco now like the Eiffel Tower as people pack like sardines into an ever lengthening queue.
We’ll treat whoever comes through our doors. As frontline soldiers, we have to. But if people refuse the advice given to them, play roulette with their lives and ours, could you blame us for how we really feel?