I WRITE with reference to the letter headed: "Has my GP been kidnapped?" (Oct 22).

Our son is 200 miles away at university. He had severe inflammation of the throat and the receptionist at his local surgery decided that he had a low priority illness. It took him four days to see a doctor, despite a record of throat infections over the past year.

He saw a doctor who diagnosed tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. That night my son haemorrhaged but had the "luck" to share a house with three other students who sent for an emergency ambulance.

We hate to even think of what the outcome would have been had he lived on his own. He was put into a ward for high dependency surgical cases and was on a drip for two days. He is now on an emergency list for immediate tonsillectomy.

Our point is that medical receptionists should NOT make clinical decisions. Please leave that diagnosis to the doctor.

And furthermore, they should not be quite so ready to protect the hard-working doctor from the "nuisance" of patients who ring up with "minor ailments". Tonsillitis is not usually a killer, but in a few cases it just might be!

RELIEVED MUM AND DAD

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