A service to the public?

I thank the Health Department, through the Director of Information, for taking the time to earnestly reply to my letter of December 20 under the heading Bad Apples in Public Service. We all know how difficult it is to listen, rather that just hear.

In fact, may I suggest that when replying to criticism they should be careful to refrain from jumping to conclusions as they did when they implied that I had bought the vaccine from a private pharmacy without a doctor's prescription. May I also set their mind at rest that no illegality was committed by the pharmacy in question. For the sake of clarity I wish to inform the gentlemen that it was my GP who had recommended that I take the inoculation and that I simply went to the health centre because my GP was abroad when I took delivery of the vaccine.

I also ask the Health Department whether, in the case in question, the two unhelpful health attendants mentioned in my letter could have simply explained that I should call at the health centre during the day and visit the resident doctor who would have no doubt directed the nurse to give me the inoculation? Would that have solved the matter?

As to the health authorities, clarification that only an emergency service is offered from the health centres between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. says it all! Citizens are made to pay taxes through their nose, including that of picking up the bill for manning the health centres on a 24x7 basis, but citizens beware; you can only make use of the service during the day! Is this a case where it is officially sanctioned that health-care staff can get their full pay but between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m are only required to do their work when an emergency crops up?

No wonder the public in general feels that, more often that not, any criticism of the public service is simply futile. By the way, a few days ago I also tried to speak to the Customer Care Unit at St Luke's (during the day) but it seems that the telephone was simply out of service - or was it the unit?