Such A Head

We have a record department, where all medical records are stored. It usually works fine. Sometimes there is a mix-up, but the chief record officer is co-operative, and usually understands a valid suggestion and takes necessary steps to correct any errors pointed out. However, 'usually' does not mean 'always'. "Sir, I had asked you to give me a certificate, advising maternity leave from 1st April. You had written that on my paper and sent me to the certificate department" one pregnant woman told me in the antenatal clinic. "The clerk in the said department sent me away three times, refusing to give that certificate." The procedure followed is the patient submits the papers to the certificate department, which is a part of the record department. Then our doctors go to that department and fill out the certificates in duplicate. The patient collects the certificate in the afternoon the same day. This seemed a serious matter. Patients should not be sent away just like that. So I called the chief record officer and told him about the situation. "Sir, you cannot ask us to do irregular work" he told me. "What is irregular in giving a certificate like this?" I asked. "Maternity leave can be given when the woman delivers. May be you send the patient one day before delivery and we will give the certificate" he said. "How do I know when she will deliver?" I asked. "Only God would know the exact day." "That is true. But we cannot give that certificate." "But we are the people who fill out the certificates. You just have to issue them" I said. "No! We have to check them. Otherwise doctors will give out illegal certificates and we remain answerable for that" he said. "See, obstetrics is our specialty. I as head of my department understand obstetrics. If I give a certificate, do record office personnel know better than I do?" i was beginning to lose my temper. Clerks stopping doctors from giving illegal certificates was a grave accusation. "I am also head of my department!" he said. "I understand my work well." "Please show me the standard operating procedure for this work" I told him. If a pregnant woman desires to go on maternity leave before her due date, and the doctor thought it was OK, there was no prohibition for that. "Everything is not written down. This is how things are done around here" he said. "Let us go to the Director and sort it out right now" I suggested. That worked. "I will look at her paper and ask the clerk who refused to give that certificate why he did what he did" he said. She has not come back with further complaints. So probably she got what she wanted.