The initial visit isn’t a good gauge of anything in this case. An infected wound takes time to manifest signs and symptoms. Had this guy gone to a doctor who denied him antibiotics when the infection presented, it would be different. Sadly, there is no one to blame for this but the patient.
Everyone says physicians schedule follow up visits to increase their income, and there is some truth in that, but then you get one of these.
We'll agree to disagree. I would argue that the NHS system, where all doctor visits are "official," helps create a "but I've been discharged" attitude like Caterall's. In a private system, it's psychologically much easier to call up a doctor and tell him there's a problem.