Ensuring Service with Absences
First, you said that the admitting physician had to discharge the patient. That is not true - my guess is the attending physician or another physician with the authority did not want to discharge the patient until the admitting physician was able to review the case and either concur or suggest additional tests. In the case of your experience with the hospital, it sounds like their was either a lack of communication or a lack of someone else taking ownership in the experience.
But bringing your example further, I would like to share an experience I had that I would consider it to be rare. I am an analyst - I build databases and datamarts, but occasionally I need access to other databases (so I can either link or import data for analysis). I requested access of a certain table, and it turns out, there were two very similar tables. The person who assigns priveleges needed to know what was the precise table. We emailed a third person, but by the time he responded, the original DBA was on vacation. The original DBA had his emails forwarded to a third person who actually granted access while on vacation, and allowing me to complete the project. I was so pleased with the service.
Coming back to your father's visit in the hospital. Had the admitting physician clearly indicated why your father was in the hospital and what he/she wanted to gain by the admission, perhaps some other physician could have discharged the patient in such a way that the patient and their family was happy, and the admitting physician was also satisfied.
