» It’s MY Turn!

Yesterday we spent an hour or so at the local doctor’s surgery, which offered a couple of interesting observations on human nature.

In England getting to see a doctor was always something of a challenge. An appointment was always needed, but getting one wasn’t easy. Starting the phone calls from the minute the surgery opened, constant redialing until you got a ringing tone, then hanging on … and on … and on; knowing that if you put the phone down that elusive ringing tone would never be found again.

Eventually you’d secure the first available appointment, usually be a couple of days later. By the time you finally got to see the doctor you were likely better or beyond his help. And even having that treasured appointment time was no guarantee that you wouldn’t be faced with a long wait. Appointments at 5 minute intervals – the norm – were rarely sufficient for that consultation.

Greece, by comparison, hasn’t got around to the concept of doctors’ appointments (not our part of Greece anyway). So you just turn up and wait your turn. This is good, because it means you will actually be seen on the day you want to be, but not so good because you don’t know how long it may take.

Our local surgery usually has just one doctor on duty, and no nurses or reception staff. No nursing staff means the doctor deals with everything is presented, including routine checking and dressing of wounds. When someone goes into the surgery you have no idea of how long they will be. Doctors don’t have that notional ‘5 minute slot’ – they take as long as their patient needs.

And no reception staff means you rely on people taking their turn. There is no ticket system, and patients sit or stand anywhere in the waiting area, or even outside. In fact nothing except observation and goodwill ensures that people form a virtual ‘orderly queue’. When someone believes they are next in line they will stand immediately outside the surgery door, or move to the chair closest to it, and this is rarely challenged.

Yesterday we’d been waiting for around an hour, knowing we were 5th in the queue. The current patient had been in over 15 minutes and appeared to be a dressing change, the doctor coming out to collect cloths and solutions at intervals. A lady ahead of us had been getting more and more agitated as she waited, sighing, muttering to herself, and looking at her watch. Then another lady, who had arrived maybe 5 minutes earlier, walked across from where she had been sitting and sat on the empty chair immediately outside the doctor’s door, offering a few words to the people around her to justify her actions.

This second lady was well down the queue, but evidently planning to get the doctor’s attention as soon as she could. The first lady was extremely unhappy at this, and placed herself outside the surgery door, back at the front of the queue. A discussion began between the two, getting more heated by the second. We couldn’t understand this but the gist of it seemed to be: “I only need to speak to the doctor for a minute.” “Not before I see him, you don’t. I’ve been waiting hours and you’re not getting in ahead of me.” said in increasingly strong tones by each of them.

To add to the tension, the doctor came out of the surgery for more supplies and acknowledged the second lady. Even so, the first lady wasn’t giving way, and made it very clear by her words and body language that this was the case.

It’s standard practice in Greece for people to knock on a surgery door, or have a very quick word with a doctor or dentist – or bank clerk or any other official for that matter – while that person is dealing with someone else. It happens everywhere, and people see nothing wrong with it. In fact doctors and dentists will sometimes tell their patients to do this. Maybe this doctor had seen the second lady earlier and actually told her to come to the front of the queue when she came back?

When the current patient finally came out it was like watching a scrum. Both ladies were determined to be next to see the doctor and the exiting patient had to dodge between them as they raced for the lead. The first lady won, and shut the door firmly in her opponent’s face.

Whilst this altercation was happening a mother had joined the queue with her son, probably aged around 12. She also had a dialog with some of the people waiting, asking how many doctors were on duty, and working out how long the queue was. It was clear that her son was the patient, although on sight he didn’t look to be particularly suffering.

An elderly man, who was behind us in the queue, spoke to another man, who was in front of us, (and we had all been waiting well over an hour). He was saying “I think the child should go first, how about you?”. The second man agreed, and they declared to everyone else “The child goes first” (not that he would have stood a chance against either of the two women!).

Sad to say, the second example surprised me most. The world seems to have more people who are keen to assert their rights and fight for their place than to be generous and giving to others.