Heart failure
I aM not surprised that gPs are failing to spot two out of three cases of heart failure (Mail).
My husband went to the doctor last year with classic symptoms of heart failure: an irregular pulse, breathlessness and swollen legs. However, the doctor didn’t check his pulse or look at his legs.
He gave him diuretics — water pills — to be taken only if he felt he needed them. I rang the practice to complain and two days later my husband was
I WATCHED the first two episodes of BBC1’s new thriller, Bodyguard, and noticed the preponderance of female characters (Mail). The train guard who seemed on the verge of tears; the head of the firearms team who couldn’t rationalise what was happening in front of her and whose response was to shout ever louder; the sniper desperate for a ‘head shot’; the firearm team who looked unsure of what they were doing; the bodyguard’s boss, who was patronising and ineffectual while her boss was portrayed as a psychopath. Not forgetting the hysterical aide, the reporter who wanted to bring down the politicians and the wife who joins a long line married to a man in a difficult job who then blames him when it all goes belly-up. As a man, I found the female-controlled environment entertaining. If I were a female, it would be insulting.
A. STEAD, Loftus, N. Yorks. COVERAGE of Bodyguard claims the dominant role of women is welcomed by examined by a superb GP registrar, whom I believe saved his life by diagnosing heart failure and getting him the treatment he needed.
It’s hardly surprising some GPs fail to diagnose heart failure if they can’t be bothered to look at a patient properly. ENID MARTLAND,
Wigan, Lancs. viewers. This is apparent within the real police service in the many interviews conducted following serious crime. Less and less do you see a senior male officer in charge of a high-profile investigation. However, watching the footage of the recent terrorist incident outside Parliament, I could not identify one female officer on the front line. Hopefully, Theresa May’s draconian attitude to the role of the police service will be corrected in due course.
TERENCE ALLARD, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. WATCHING BBC’s Bodyguard, I wondered if peak diversity has been reached, as the only male characters were the bodyguard, the Chief Whip, a civil servant and a few men passing by.
DOREEN BATES, Huntingdon, Cambs. WHy didn’t they make the bodyguard a woman? Then the Home Secretary could have a lesbian lover, eliminating the need for men.
JEFF BEST, London N14.