Silly Friday story? Maybe not…
In a never-ending drive to invade every part of our privacy, latest guidelines from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges to family doctors is to prescribe, amongst other things, more sex to patients who are deemed to require more exercise. Ew!
And it get’s worse, the guidelines suggest that patients could then be called or texted by their doctor to make sure they are sticking to the advice. Really?
What planet are these people from? Bad enough that you go to visit your local GP and get asked how much you drink and how many cigarettes you smoke, you may now start being asked how regularly you are having sex and whether it might be a good idea to have a bit more – and you only came in with a tummy bug! And don’t they know that most patients don’t even know their so-called “family doctor”.
When we first heard about it we thought it was some kind of joke, but no it is in the report in black and white and even the press release extols the virtue of heavy breathing between the sheets:
“[The report] calls on doctors to encourage their patients to make a start with regular activities that are free and easy to do; a brisk walk – one that makes you slightly sweaty and slightly out of breath – costs nothing. Dancing, cycling, even sex, it argues, can all bring dramatic health benefits”.
Take the sex out of the document and it’s not that bad a document. The overall message – prevention is better than cure- -is a good one, though it does seem rather “ABC” – do doctors really need to be told not to be preachy, not to assume the patient is lazy, and not to expect people to respond immediately to their advice etc?
But why anyone thought it was a good idea to suggest doctors get personal is beyond us. On one level it is amusing. On another it’s down right creepy. As patients, we have a right to keep our personal lives to ourselves and our bodies are our own. Doctors do not and should not have the right to probe into every aspect of our lives. Lest the academics forget, they are our bodies not theirs.
To read the AOMRC report and the press statement click here .
February 18th, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Oh no, next they’ll be wanting to implant a chip in our lower regions to monitor whether we are following the prescribed therapy properly. Unless of course our televisions, computers and smartphones are already spying on us.