medicalenglish

OET Skills (Idioms & Rephrasing) “Bureaucracy Bites”

Bureaucracy Really Bites

A couple from Moldova, who were asylum seekers in Germany, were sent by their Migrant Medical Care Center to a dentist. The woman, who was seven months pregnant, had not one, but two extremely painful teeth. She was in agony. With typical efficiency, they were registered and the dentist agreed that the teeth should be removed right away. But then…a brick wall of bureaucracy. The office receptionist announced that the woman could not be treated because, in the rush to get her and her painful teeth to the dentist, the Migrant Centre had written the husband’s name on the referral form, not the wife’s.