OOH care and locum doctors

Gordon Brown should hold urgent talks with my fat 3-year-old cat Mustafa. She (I am aware her name is a boy's one) can describe without question, the faults of the current out-of-hours (OOH) service and make suggestions for a model that works. A few weeks ago Mustafa decided to hurt her front paw. This is her diary — Day 1: Mustafa has done something to her front paw. She won't tell me what, but she isn't weight bearing. A definite bump over her MCP joint prompts a call for help. One quick phone call to our local vet (they are part of a large chain and easily identifiable with a branch in most high streets), and we are put through to their on-call base in a nearby town. We rush over to the OOH vet base. Happy to be seen quickly, but …