He was like a king holding court and the joy on his face at the attention he was getting was quite visible, though I think he mistook casual polite attention for respect and agreement with his anti-NHS sentiments.
Then disaster struck… a young pretender for the throne stepped forward into the limelight. At first the old king smiled, believing the young scamp was merely agreeing with him, but buoyed on by the positive reaction his interruption had received, the young dentist continued on, and threatened to take the crown of the previous speaker as he was bolder in his condemnation of the Department of Health. The king reacted, and quick to reassert his position as the most vocal opponent of the NHS he began to ramp up the tone of his protestations towards the new contract. The upstart responded in kind, and the two continued raising the colour of their language and the passion of their vitriol.
Anyone who entered the scene at this point could well have mistaken the two protagonists as being quite vehement and extreme in their hatred of all things NHS, from the contract to the ideal to the patients themselves but of course this wasn’t really the case. The discussion had long since lost its meaning and the references to something tangible like a potential new contract was merely the battleground for these two individuals to have a mini power struggle. Things aren’t always as they seem on the surface.
This isn’t an uncommon occurrence as I’m sure many of you will know. From receptionists drinking from the ‘wrong’ coffee cup to dental nurses using two coat pegs, I dare say most principals have had to deal with arguments which by themselves seem trivial but are part of a much larger internal power struggle in the practice. In these cases because the quarrels are of little substance it is easy to see through them, but on more serious matters it might be a more difficult task. When it comes to conversations about the effectiveness of the GDC, the value in the BDA or the viability of a new
NHS contract, it is important to focus on what is actually being said, and not on the speaker. The loudest speaker is not always right, he is not even always the most sincere… in fact the exact opposite could be true. Often people are loud simply because they want to be heard.