The SHO from Hell

Its two months since I last blogged.
Why the hiatus? I suppose it was a phase of wondering whether the desire to blog was just a "phase"....but I now realise I missed telling everyone and noone about my experiences.

My SHO deserves a posting all of his own.

He is absolutely awful to work with. He does nothing: I see him in the mornings, when he's there for the ward-round, but after that, he disappears. Occaisionally he deigns to bleep me from outside to let me know he will be out of the hospital for the rest of the day as he has a neck ache/back ache/sinusitis or his wife has a GP appointment/gynae appointment or its their wedding anniversary/a birthday .... pick which ever excuse - either way, none of them are ever true.

Even when he does do something, I end up wishing he hadn't. He tells the patient a plan, giving reasons for the plan. Then along comes the registrar/consultant, who tells the patient a completely contradictory plan, leaving a baffled and sometimes angry patient for me and the reg to deal with. Had this happened once or twice, one could put that down to human error. But this happens everytime! So much so, that I refuse to see some patients with him when the registrar is not around - I cannot stand there silently, unable to contradict a senior in front of the patient. Or for another example: he was on one weekend with my registrar; on the saturday he saw some of the urology in-patients, including a young heroin addict with a variety of 'problems' including difficulty passing urine. She had had a catheter removed the day before and was complaining of a painful stomach and having to strain to pee. He bladder scanned her, which showed about a litre (after peeing!), but did nothing about it - he "didn't believe the scanner". On Monday I reviewed her - she still had the same complaints - and a palpable bladder and over a litre in her bladder. She was catherised immediately. Leaving her on Saturday was sheer negligence and incompetence.

And if he doesn't do something wrong, he just does not do it at all, but assures me that everything has been sorted. Which is why I no longer ask him to do anything and beg the nurses not to ask him to speak to patients or their families. It is also the reason that my 8 to 4 day usually ends at 6 (or later, given that not only do I have to sometimes cover for the other urology F1, but also for the other urology SHO - as my wonderful SHO does nothing).

However what takes the cake and brings me to boiling point is that fact that patients and nurses absolutely LOVE him!! He is charming and very personable. Patients tend to appreciate the way he takes half an hour or more to talk to them (compared to the five seconds they get from the ward round) - and they don't realise that its all bulls***. Nurses love him for reasons I cannot fathom: it may be that he is so friendly and has been in this hospital a long time (for about 4 years! all as an SHO) or that even when they make mistakes he never says anything (cos he can't afford to talk) .... whatever the reason, he has a very devoted following: they have been known to tell on other SHOs who have complained about him.

It frustrates me that a person like him still has a job. Many of my seniors do not have jobs yet, and they are such good doctors: knowledgable, professional, trustworthy. Yet this man, with little knowledge, and very unprofessional behaviour has had FOUR interviews and God knows how many job offers. This highlights the problem with the MTAS system - it allows no-good doctors to shine, just so long as they can write to save their skins. It also highlights the problem with the old system of nepotism. Although my SHO has no blood links with any of the consultants as far as I know, he fawns on them, and plays on the "asian boys society" - which has ensured his job for so long. This appears to be strong enough to withstand other consultant's complaints.

Thankfully I only have five weeks left, and of that, I'm on leave for two and on nights for one (and I really hope he isnt on nights with me - the last set of nights he did, he only turned up for two and then called to say that he had a sick relative in Leicester to look after - apparently he does this everytime he has nights).

Until then I will have to put up with him: suppressing the urge to punch him in the day, and actually doing so in my dreams (my mind has its ways of torturing me!).