Modern medicine rightly emphasises the importance of science. The focus, however, too often displaces our attention from the real point of healthcare – to care. This is nicely captured by William Osler’s (1849-1919) admonition to attend to the patient rather than their disease – a sentiment treated as a quaint bromide by the unwary practitioner. I rediscovered the truth of his advice when two particular patients taught me about COVID-19 infection and challenged what expertise I thought I had in managing pneumonia.
The first patient with COVID-19 that presented to my hospital was probably typical of initial patients in many other hospitals at the time. He was an elderly man with pneumonia, as yet untested for the new coronavirus but presumed to have it. An expert team carefully assessed him, prescribed high-flow oxygen and monitored him on a respiratory ward. He died unexpectedly that night.