Sir, – It was striking that Elon Musk, the superstar of last week's web summit, suggested, in his "fireside chat" with the Taoiseach, that fee-free third level engineering courses would be a crucial step in turning Ireland into a (technological) "start-up hub"; and, moreover, "that these free courses should be open to students from anywhere with the trade-off that they stay in Ireland" (Cantillon, November 2nd).
Might I suggest that a similar strategy could revive the frontline of the health service in its present parlous plight, wherein lines of trolley-bound patients, chronic bed deficits and epic public health challenges now combine with a frightening shortage of doctors to choke our emergency departments (EDs)?
How about, say, free (or partially discounted) medical education in return for a six-month, reasonably-paid, European Working Time Directive-compliant stint in an ED allied to a medical school, with regular tuition and good prospects?
And, afterwards, the world would remain the doctors’ oyster. It’s a simplistic prescription, I know. A bit like oxygen, adrenaline or defibrillation. But at this stage, surely, just as desperately needed. – Yours, etc,
Dr CHRIS LUKE,
Consultant in Emergency
Medicine,
Cork University Hospital,
Wilton, Cork