BMJ  2007;335 (29 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39350.580278.47

Editor's Choice

When is hospital the right place to be?

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The old man had had classic cardiac chest pain for two nights (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39129.623368.BE). Against his general practitioner's advice, he decided he would rather go to that evening's Bowls Club dinner than to hospital for tests. Should his doctor have tried harder to persuade him to go to hospital?

Will Roberts and Adam Timmis would probably say yes. But they also say, on this week's Change Page (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39342.693252.47), that patients with cardiac chest pain should cut out the intermediary and call an ambulance, rather than bothering with general practitioners or helplines such as NHS Direct. Easier said than done, when numerous attempts to educate patients about the signs and symptoms of cardiac pain have failed. Targeting women and older people may be one answer, they say, along with making even more defibrillators available in busy public places.

The old man might not have minded a trip to . . . [Full text of this article]

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