Has respect been lacking?
First, an update on my book! (The Truth About Depression and How You Can Beat It)
It has been so frustrating trying to get my book out to you. I am still trying to get my website up and running and I have to wait until 12 March for a telephone conference call with my graphic artist. It will then possibly be 3-4 months until the book is in physical form. So I must plod on relentlessly with getting my website done so you can immediately download the PDF version (all ready and waiting to go). This has already been uploaded onto my site so all I have to do now is link it to a payment button, so hopefully I won't keep you waiting too long now.
You can read all about it in my November Post
Your patience has been appreciated - it will be worth waiting for.
Right, back to it. I went to an appointment at my doctor's surgery recently and because I was seeing a registrar (a newly qualified doctor finishing off training), was handed a questionnaire to fill in after the appointment. There were questions on it such as 'did the doctor listen to your story' 'did they spend too much time looking at their computer screen' etc.,
The questions got me thinking about previous appointments at the surgery, over the years and after completing the questionnaire I thought it would be a good idea if you could have the chance to fill one in after seeing the regular doctors. I say this because if I had the chance to do this, there would be certain areas that, in my opinion, were not being adequately executed.
It could be that some doctors may become complacent over the years and through habit, some may even lose sight of the patients needs and even develop an offhand manner, not realising the effect it may have on their patients. They may not even realize that they are doing it.
For example. I know of people who are so put off by their doctor's attitudes towards them that they simply will not go to one, even when they are ill. I think this is atrocious. I have even had to persuade two people to go to a doctor and even made an appointment for one of them because they looked so ill. I have even known of 4 people who will not even entertain the idea of seeing one particular doctor!
A common complaint seems to be that doctors may appear too aloof. Obviously they need to keep a professional 'air of detachment' to a certain extent, but surely the odd smile of welcome to put you at your ease would not go amiss. This would go a long way to make you feel comfortable instead of making for a possibly difficult appointment. You may even come out not having said what you wanted to about the reason for you being there.
Controversial? yes it is, but I am convinced this is a very common occurence.
I am sure that each country has some sort of Health Constitution, covering patients rights. I recently looked up our own (UK) National Health Document and if you are in the UK you will be very interested in this. NHS Constitution : Department of Health - Health care (click to view)
People just seem to accept the fact that they have come out of their doctors surgery feeling upset with no suitable resolution and maybe even vowing not to go back again. You do have a right to a duty of care and a right to give feeback (good or bad) to your doctor, who should be treating you with respect, dignity and compassion.
I will quote passages from our own Constitution in the hope that this article will persuade you to visit a doctor if you have been put off in the past. You do have the right to see any doctor you want so do not have to stick to just the one. You will not be 'troubling him' - it is his job so please do not put your health at risk by ignoring any problems.
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NHS CONSTITUTION (passage extracts) Doctors are representatives of the NHS. I think it would be helpful for them all to re-aquaint themselves with the document!
NHS 'It has a duty to each and every individual that it serves and must respect their human rights'
NHS 'high quality care that is safe, effective and focussed on patient experience'
RESPECT, CONSENT & CONFIDENTIALITY
'You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, in accordance with your human rights'
'You have the right to accept or refuse treatment that is offered to you, and not to be given any physical examination or treatment unless you have given valid consent'.
'You have the right to be given information about your proposed treatment in advance, including any significant risks and any alternative treatments which may be available.....'
'You have the right of access to your own health records.These will always be used to manage your treatment in your best interests'
'You have the right to express a preference for using a particular doctor within your GP practice and for the practice to try and comply'
'You have the right to make choices about your NHS care and to information to support these choices. The options available to you will develop over time and depend on your individual needs'
'....to inform you about the healthcare services available to you, locally and nationally (pledge) and to offer you easily accessible, reliable and relevant information to enable you to participate fully in your own healthcare decisions and to support you in making choices'
INVOLVEMENT IN YOUR HEALTHCARE AND IN THE NHS
You have the right to be involved in discussions and decisions about your healthcare, and to be given information to enable you to do this.
COMPLAINT & REDRESS
'You have the right to have any complaint you make about NHS services dealt with efficiently and to have it properly investigated'.
'You have the right to know the outcome of any investigation into your complaint'
'You have the right to take your complaint to the independent Health Service Ombudsman, if you are not satisfied with the way your complaint has been dealt with by the NHS'.
'You have the right to make a claim for judicial review if you think you have been directly affected by an unlawful act or decision of an NHS body'.
'You have the right to compensation where you have been harmed by negligent treatment'.
The NHS also commits:
'to ensure you are treated with courtesy and you receive appropriate support throughout the handling of a complaint; and the fact that you have complained will not adversely affect your future treatment (pledge); '
'when mistakes happen, to acknowledge them, apologise, explain what went wrong and put things right quickly and effectively (pledge); and to ensure that the organisation learns lessons from complaints and claims and uses these to improve NHS services (pledge)'.
PATIENTS AND THE PUBLIC - RESPONSIBILITY
'You should give feedback – both positive and negative – about the treatment and care you have received, including any adverse reactions you may have had'.
'to be open with patients, their families, carers or representatives, including if anything goes wrong; welcoming and listening to feedback and addressing concerns promptly and in a spirit of co-operation. You should contribute to a climate where the truth can be heard and the reporting of, and learning from, errors is encouraged; and to view the services you provide from the standpoint of a patient, and involve patients',
NHS VALUES
Respect and dignity. 'We value each person as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits. We take what others have to say seriously. We are honest about our point of view and what we can and cannot do.'
Commitment to quality of care. 'We earn the trust placed in us by insisting on quality and striving to get the basics right every time: '
'We welcome feedback, learn from our mistakes and build on our successes.'
Compassion. 'We respond with humanity and kindness to each person’s pain, distress, anxiety or need. We search for the things we can do, however small, to give comfort and relieve suffering. We find time for those we serve and work alongside. We do not wait to be asked, because we care'.
Improving lives. 'We strive to improve health and well-being and people’s experiences of the NHS.'
'We value excellence and professionalism wherever we find it – in the everyday things that make people’s lives better as much as in clinical practice, service improvements and innovation.'
Working together for patients. 'We put patients first in everything we do, by reaching out to staff, patients, carers, families, communities, and professionals outside the NHS'.
'We put the needs of patients and communities before organisational boundaries'.
We accept that some people need more help.
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I hope this has been helpful to you. If it helps just one of you who are too scared to repeat a visit to the doctor because of a bad experience - then it will be worth it.
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To date, I have had 132 visits to this blog despite the fact that I have not actively marketed it! Many are from search engines all around the world (check my stats). You can 'subscribe' to my blog, or become my first 'follower' - see list on the right of this post.
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'til next time
Bonnie
The Truth About Depression and How You Can Beat It
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