(Pause.)

I would tell

how every Christmas

my father, the doctor

shopped

—then drove

to the homes of each of his patients

and delivered presents to

every... single... one.

(Pause.)

I would say

that the way

my father was with his patients

made them feel

stronger.

Made them feel happier.

Made them feel braver

—and better.

—to all the general practitioners

rushing through 15-minute consultations

—to all the doctors ticking-and-flicking

patients on to practitioners

with questionable credentials

—to all the doctors providing other doctors

with incorrect patient records...

—I would say it sometimes seems

to all the patients caught in it

that the medical sector

is the only sector

where the customer is never

—ever

right.

that doctors make mistakes too.

Of course they do.

And I would say to every general practitioner in the land

that every patient in the land

would forgive doctors' mistakes

if doctors were willing

to apologise but not....

above the welfare
of their patients.

Not, if they forget

why they do what they do.

Not, if they put humility aside

while expecting to be treated

with humility.

I'd say:

Be kind.

I'd say:

Facilitate.

And I'd say:

Put people
before profit.

about my father, the doctor.

And I'd suggest

—ever so gently

they take a leaf

from his book.

That's what I'd say,

if I had the chance.