The Daily Hail may constantly portray doctors, especially GPs, as lazy golfing fat-cats, and no doubt more than are few are, but there are other corners in the medical universe that are not so cosy, corners closer to the dark side of the moon than the sunny terrace of the nineteenth hole; and one of those corners is that of medical unemployment: doctors who are in a position to work, but for some reason cannot find work.
To those outside the profession, medical unemployment is inexplicable, bizarre, even disturbing and unsettling. Doctors are both committed and driven individuals, trained to the highest standards (at considerable tax-payers expense, some would add), with a ticket to work in a rewarding – both personally and financially – profession. And we are, so the story goes, always short of doctors. How, possibly, could medical unemployment be a reality?