Bears, bells, healthcare and how do we actually get it right first time?

Abstract

I was recently privileged to sit through a short lecture by Bill Bryson, someone for whom I have had affection for many years. I had been struck by his earnest humour and thoughtful charm the first time I heard him speak at the BOA a few years ago and was excited to be able to hear him again at a much smaller Orthopaedic forum. Mr Bryson gave a thought-provoking talk set off by his usual amusing anecdote about ‘bears and bells’. However, taking the opportunity to converse with the trainees in the auditorium, he went on to give one of the most profound and beautifully-delivered commentaries on what is wrong and right with modern healthcare I have heard in a number of years. Bryson told of the fate of Katz, the other protagonist of A Walk in the Woods which I am sure will be familiar to many. He traced the difficulties experienced by his childhood friend as a result of the development of simple complications from diabetes, which led eventually …