DOCTORS AND VIOLENCE

DOCTORS AND VIOLENCE 

People restoring to violence is now becoming common place. In most walks of life. The medical field is no exception. We need to look at the problem holistically. 

Restoring to violence is obviously condemnable . No two opinions about it. However, we all know the situation in hospitals. The whole system including the administrators, nurses, doctors and technicians     is not patient  friendly. Either they are over worked, not sufficiently skilled or negligent . The degree varies between corporate hospitals and govt ones but is definitely  present. Add to this the problem of " profit motive resulting in fleecing"   or corruption and  inferior products.

The instances where medical education has been severely compromised only adds fuel to the already deficient system.

Net result is that a certain percent of patients receive poor treatment and/ or incur  excess expenditure. Most of the times this situation is obvious to people . Level of suspicion is high.

  These emotions add to the level of stress which prevails around any seriously sick person.

The Hospital environment , in general and government run and smaller privately run ones, in particular  , therefore , is not a place where one gets  care, empathy and acceptable levels of treatment. 

 Consequently, few patients lose life or limb and the level of mistrust and suspicion and , probably obvious instances of negligence , leads to anger and frustration among relatives . Complaint mechanisms and  redressal process often do not exist or is too lax. Then, what follows is unpredictable!. 

Doctors should obviously object to the cases of violance but the problem does not end there. They cannot wear blinkers. They also have a responsibility to address the overall malice.

Healthcare has come a long way. India has progressed considerably in making it available to all strata of society , inspite of our legendary  lackadaisical attitude. Expectation is also raising for better quality care. Medical insurance , which increases cost for well known reasons, results in patient expectations that are qualitatively higher.

Informed opinion makers , media and leaders have a responsibility to sensitize all stake holders and push for reforms. 

This piece is a humble attempt.

ReplyForward