The story of a lost reputation
When was the last time you thanked your doctor?
Srinagar, Publish Date: Apr 27 2016 11:04PM | Updated Date: Apr 27 2016 11:04PM
Not many doctors tell me a story of their most recent rewarding patient encounter, but most of my colleagues agree that the medical profession is one of the most important and unfortunately least appreciated job, especially in our land. In our society it is uncommon to find gratitude.
Actually when a patient or relative says “thanks” , it's a powerful booster for any worker to perform. There was a time when doctors were trusted. There was a time when they were not guilty until proven otherwise. There was a time when doctor’s prescriptions were not looked with suspicion but valued and judged through their credentials of competency. The rules have changed and some doctors are having a tough time adjusting to patients and their relatives' legitimate or illegitimate demands.
Where things went wrong? Public perception of medical profession is nobility and selfless service, not money, name or fame, prestige or position. Things these days are not better, doctors are more frequently in news for all the wrong reasons. No doubt there has been a sharp decline in the moral/ethical conduct of few corrupt doctors, particularly those who are involved in kickback-driven prescriptions, an unholy nexus with pharma companies, private hospitals or diagnostic centers, and are accused of promoting unnecessary tests, medicines and procedures, for reasons of self-interest. It promotes an atmosphere of distrust, and tends to blemish the overall noble character of this profession. To safeguard morale of those, in fact a majority, who discharge duties with dedication, wrong elements need to be dealt with in a exemplary way. Also, what is expected from media is to be very scrupulous while reporting any malpractices.
Why blame doctors always?. A Quality expert like me being a proponent of “zero tolerance to negligence,” must agree on inadequacies in our communication skills. Risks, benefits alternatives to management, and particularly progress of patient are not explained well in time to patients, or their relatives. With the result the attendants are not mentally prepared for any undesired outcome, and a unruly behavior or an avalanche of derogatory remarks filled with anger and hostility is often hurled on doctors. There is a system to register a compliant of dissatisfaction, but unfortunately a doctor or a hospital becomes the final target. The administration in our hospitals, besides ensuring staff safety, should be mindful of patient rights and responsibilities and publicise things in bi-lingual language at the entrances of all hospitals.
Regardless of their experience, motivation, or supervision every day "only 6 percent of doctors expressed happiness with their jobs, according to one survey. “Over half were unsure they would recommend the practice of medicine to young people or their offspring.”
There are happy doctors out there, of course depending upon their priorities in life, but overall picture is not encouraging. So what’s going on , when did it get this bad? Is medical profession, once most sought after profession, becoming a sunset career? That news is bad for medicine. Undoubtedly thousands of Valleyites receive health care that helps to maintain or restore their health. However, many of us are dissatisfied too. Our society and system of fixing responsibility is sicker than even common man understands, blaming doctors always for things over which they have no control is not a good thing. Healthcare is a risk prone service; unintended mistakes do happen during delivery of healthcare, but the problem is not entirely that of bad staff. 90-95% adverse events (AE’s) in any organization occur and recur due to non-existence of mistake proofing system, lack of SOPs - thus outcome is not in the expected way. The healthcare authorities, media, and the general public often put blame on healthcare workers instead of exploring system weaknesses. An already overburdened doctor feels demoralized this way. Doctor’s job now a days is becoming quite challenging, the duty may be exhaustive. Not only are doctors often taken for granted, many patients and their attendants are rude, manifest their dislike openly for doctors through abusive (verbal or physical) gestures. It’s hard for anyone outside the profession to understand just how difficult the doctor’s job has become—and what bad news that is for health care system when an impatient attendant under pretext of having proximity, true or fake, to some VIP, disrupts the normal course of medical management system and threatens doctors and HCW during their routine duty work. Compromised standards, lack of clear protocols, sub-standard essentials, spurious drugs and malfunctioning machinery doesn’t mean the staff or building or ambulances have to face the wrath of attendants/crowd. It is more demoralizing when both people and authorities fail to understand shortcomings in the system, and instead blame doctors of negligence. After such unpleasant negative encounters for any dedicated doctor to work effectively and efficiently is a bigger challenge. Eliminating disruptive behavior is essential for creating a culture of safety in hospitals is a priority one for new healthcare leadership and administrators. Just as the public has to adjust to existing health care delivery system along with its shortcomings, doctors too have to show humane resilience during the vulnerable moments of patients and attendants. No doubt our hospital staff usually makes every effort to treat everyone, as we would like to be treated. The patients and their attendants should also realize that along with rights, they have responsibilities. Most of our problems arise in expectation zone. Can we actually restore trust in medical profession? We need to resist the siren call of “ Blame Someone” or nothing will ever get better.
Dr Fiaz Fazili is a surgeon, clinical auditor and accreditation assessor for national and international accreditation.
https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/op-ed/the-story-of-a-lost-reputation/215974.html
