Thursday, July 02, 2009

Only in Malaysia

that patients return crying!


I can't believe in today's high drama. Memang lah I can be your drama queen sometimes.But it takes two to tango, kan?


Went to get treatment at a hospital close to home (I went cos' of distance not so much reputation of the hosp.Dah lama tau it ain't that great but ain't that bad either)
My leg problem ler. The chiro prog is very da slow.I thought: see an orthopedic and get physiotherapy done and this would solve the prob.

I ended up in tears, telling an orthopedic: I'm sorry doctor but I don't think I can continue this.I do not want to be treated by you. I want to see another dr.I find you rude, obnoxious and I don't like the way you speak to me.I don't feel your sympathy.

(I felt like I was in a courtroom more than in a hospital.Dia nak satu je jawapan to his question.Some I could not answer.Tu yang frustrating.Mcm nak jawab peperiksaan Add Math masa SPM! Very gruelling! Dia tanya pasal I je sakit macam ni.I kata people vary ..some jaga diet maybe.He said what has diet got to do with the pain I have.God! Either I was menopausal or he was!)


Dah byk hospital private and consultants I went to..this chap has bad bedside manner.Google and read the news on this lady who donated USD2 million to a hospital (after her death) to teach its student doctors good bedside manner cos' when she was diagnosed with cancer, the doc rang her up and told her that she had cancer and hung up on her!

I will not leave any money to any private hospitals.They have robbed me enough (MRI seribu ringgit lebih! The second Dr, although kinder than the first, tak cakap pun sebelum dia hantar I buat MRI it would cost me that much.I never know it's expensive cos' I biasa buat free! Satu, opis Nik bayar.Kali kedua years later, my nephew yang buat.He's with a uni hospital).You gotta observe your private doctors.If they are arrogant, tell them in the face. Dalam Islam, orang sakit mesti dijaga baik.Bukan nak tunjuk lagak "I'm the expert here, I know better and I have no time to listen." It's OK, I dah bagi feedback kat spital tu.If they want to be relevant, they better have the right attitude (doc ni look down on other medical approaches ie chiropractice.Walhal some new hospitals are hiring chiropractors in their hospitals and in the US/Australia, they are alternative treatments and insurance companies pay them.Dr binggung ni so judgemental and got defensive..no..offensive when I mentioned the word) My take is: if patients choose to believe in Tok Aji ke, kiai ke, bomoh ke, chiroprator ke..that is their choice and it's how each deals with his/her illness (a healing process in itself).If this doc and this hospital is so close-minded mcm ni, tak lama bungkus la tu. You may disagree but you don't have to insult other approaches and be so judgmental.Binggung! I told Dr Rude that my chiro is attached to a reputable hospital then he started to membebel2.Like it's the fault of this hospital pulak to take chiros seriously.

Zul cakap pi je hospital Cina. :))

I took the case to the top management.Mana ada spital yang buat patient dia feel worse after talking to the doc?

For me ini satu salah laku professional yang serious.I hope it does not happen to others.
Maybe medicine schools must incorporate teaching bedside manners to their students as well.

8 comments:

Yati said...

Bad experience indeed..you can just imagine macamana kalau org2 kg ke or less educated people yg jumpa docs mcm tu..
My own experience..bawa anak demam (gov clinic) the doc boleh cakap demam sikit pun dtg clinic..just imagine that..as parents we have reasons to worry..bila my husband switched to english baru lain sikit nada dia..
anyway, I have one more course to go, will audit one additional course, study for my comprehensive exam and work on my proposal..haven't registered for the conference but will do asap..tengah cari gang gak ni..

Faridah said...

My my...now slowly all stories are coming out..as I related my story, friends and relatives also revealed theirs just like what you do here.My sister cerita pernah when she took her son sebab sakit telinga (wax nya beku ke hapa)the doctor told her to korek je.My sis kata since you are the doctor, why not you do it? (yalah..kita pun takut tersilap korek, kan)She said, "Saya tak berani!"


I suggest every time kita encounter perangai pelik2 doktor2 kita, pls report to the relevant authorities.Kita tak leh gamble on our own lives/lives of loved ones.Apa dah jadi dgn etika perubatan? I wrote to an organisation that monitors all private hospitals (they all aspire to be international health hubs)and I'm glad ada juga people in that industry who believe in being humane first then anything else.

Bila I spoke with some friends...I teringat the customer service feedback pun bukan I yang tulis and I did not sign the form.Entah ke manalah perginya feedback I tu.I told this chap of the private hosp org.He said go back and write that report yourself.I kata hello mister..I ambik 2 days' rest bukan nak over-stress myself on a hospital which is supposed to help give me rest.Tak kuasa...(email/tel no pun not on their website..they are making it diff to give feedback...how can an org improve if they don't get feedback?)Then this nice mister said takpa..just email them.He will raise the issue with the hospital.

But let's get more responses ...lepas tu I will fwd them to the Star or NST.If docs are stressed out, then we have to groom more docs...unis must create more spaces,government must spend more...apa masalah kesombongan doctors and apa pasal buat kerja slipshod? (remember some baby lost a finger cos' of negligence..belum lagi yang kematian or near death)

syima said...

my brother was really frustrated with a doctor at ijn when he told my late father there are no options left that my father only had a few months to live, it just stopped there. I think doctors may assume how many months they could live but they cant just stop there without giving any other options, right? we ended up all crying at home cos we were told to sit idle and there was nothing much left to do.

my bro goes to chiropractor too for treatment of his back. it does help, alhamdulillah. i hope u'll get better soon, insyaAllah =)

Faridah said...

Thanks Shima..thanks for your feedback.I hope more coming.Dapat 2-3 lagi enough to relate to my other links...sebenarnya doctors are not taught enough communication skills.I hope they do better at IIUM medical sch.Kejap lagi I nak call my colleague in Kuantan to find out ada tak dalam syllabus mereka adab2 berkomunikasi with patients.I hear doctors circle ni byk ego dari apa2.Kalau org discipline lain try to tell them what to do, they just snub on them.Itu sebab when I met Mr Tamrin of HUKM (surgeon my sister yang buat bypass) I did extra mile to show my appreciation.Beli chocolate separuh harga MRI I kat hospital semalam tu.Orang berbudi kita berbahasa.Itu adat kita.

I'm sorry to hear about your dad's experience at IJN.Akhirnya semua jadi mechanical, kan?Semua nak jadi Dr. House!(voted second sexiest TV Dr after Dr Ross ie George Clooney in ER)Gamaknya Dr2 House kat Malaysia ni tak tau muka pun mesti hensem to go with House character.I malas la nak be rude.But arrogance is something we cannot tolerate in health givers.

Iskandar Syah Ismail aka DR Bubbles said...

alahai, I satu malam cari dalam web after reading your entry, a one very old advice (dari zaman greek dulu) " advice for doctors on how to treat patients right". I found it once in my old copies of Reader's Digest.Kena selongkar lah nampaknya.

I went to a private clinic not so long ago - sebab suddenly my right ear tak berapa nak dengar after I cuci my small hole thing atas telinga (depa cakap keturunan raja-raja aje yang ada lubang kecik atas telinga.Bengang aje bila the ENT doc said to me dengan muka boringnya - it's a nerve problem, tak boleh apa-apa as it is permanent.Dah lah tu kena RM80 for simple audio test he did.Bengang betul sebab few weeks after that - my ears OK balik.Memang dah ban dah klinik ent kat sg.Chua tu.

Faridah said...

Thanks Dr Bubbles.I hope you find that Greek advice.Bukan ke Ibnu Sina yang buat kanun ni dulu? Kemudiannya jadi bible kpd semua doktor2 di Barat?Kat Facebook I ada juga dua-tiga responses.Bila I ckp dgn a few doctor relatives and friends, ada yang cakap isolated case jelah...ada yang cakap tak leh generalise..I kata dalam kes health giving ni satu kes berlaku pun dah terjejas etika perubatan mereka.Maknanya it's OK for a case or two to happen but 1000 cases would be too many? Or what is the right figure for them to say hey, this is wrong? A patient cannot leave a clinic or a hospital worse than she/he first arrived.Walaupun in times of death/breaking bad news...tinggalkan sesuatu yang akan bagi dia jalan ke arah better coping e.g support group ph no ke.

Anonymous Devil said...

x payah pegi jauh pon. klinik uia tu. perghh.. i reckon all the doctors have certs in inflicting mental pain apart from worsening physical pain. students got dengue, fractured bones, beheaded, Aids, you just name it, ubat yg akan diberi? panadol. none others. well, i know i'm exaggerating things a bit. but i can assure u, it's due to an actual frustration.

Faridah said...

hahaha, azlan! I'm shocked.Hahaha.I know.I heard stories before but I think sekarang they have qualified docs (one of them my junior masa kat Australia.Can you imagine, we have a doctor from an Australian medical school ...and I know her..dia baik dan lemah lembut.I hear ramai memuji2) And Dr Dinon pun baik (I spoke with him abt my prob before I went to the hosp malang tu and he was very nice..even suggested that I go to another hosp yang dia tau bagus servicenya.Tapi I ni jenis tak mendengar kata.Hahaha...truth is the other hosp dekat dgn rumah)

Anyway,kita harap masalah "doktor jahat" ni akan menjadi isu.I dah alert a journalist dekat The Star.Tak tau la apa akan dibuatnya.We don't want to go personal on any doc but if the general impression is "doktor jahat" lebih ramai dari doktor baik, maka kita harus berkata sesuatu.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm happy going to a doktor (medically trained) yang pandai buat acupuncture.Thanks to Dina Zaman for introducing him to me.Dengan izin Allah, saya boleh pakai kasut tinggi hari ni masa bagi talk at SEGI (but a different kind of heel.Yang heel biasa tu masih belum berani pakai)