Mrs Prior is a 40 year old housewife whose husband frequently attends the surgery because of his diabetes. They are a close couple, and she takes the lead in managing his condition. In the past three years she has consulted her general practitioner just once on her own account—for dyspepsia. During one of her husband's consultations (and quite out of character) she mentions three problems of her own: a seven day history of intermittent “cystitis,” for which she …