What do you expect from a doctor

I really sometimes don't understand what people expect from a Doctor...They forget that he/she is also a person..Rather than a doctor what do you want a hospital staff to be..

This post is in line with how people behave with hospital staff and some times with the doctors also...It might be my experience also...but then my question is are you not expecting more...

Long before in India also doctors strictly use to say we will see only these many patients come what may and if there is something come in as emergency and we will see...Now the doctors have changed this perspective towards patients...Personally when i go to a doctor if there is waiting time i say that's fine...Oh don't think my waiting time is on holidays and was always restricted to some 20mins...I use to go after my office hours reach there and wait almost 2 hours for a simple meeting of 10mins and then leave....This is the case after i take appointment...It use to be too late by the time i reach home but i always thought that it is worth it...

According to me My Gynec works more hours than me...I use to take appointments in the morning then also there use to be a line of 50 patients considering the time she spends with one and then some of them are referred to tests and then they come again in between...and even i go in the evening she is there with the same amount of patients...and some of them are educated and some of them are uneducated so the time varies from patient to patient and in between there are emergencies, deliveries, last minute operations...what not...and over the top of it they do have a family....

Some complain to me that they don't speak well no courtesy, no explanations...I think its your responsibility to ask him...ya ya you are paying him but that does not mean you have taken his time or him forever..you pay for consultation and if you think that it should be justified...then ask questions...no doctor would say i won't answer your questions....

What is most unacceptable to me is if you are being paid by some one then you expect that its his responsibility to ask and know what are you doing, or where have u reached or do u need any help...E.g: In office we say you know my manager does not even ask me whether i am doing fine or not..he thinks he is paying me and i should do all the work....Same goes with the doctor..don't you think that you should ask the doctor rather doctor saying everything..they will say only essential things rest is your responsibility to ask...at the end its you health your doubts not his/her health and his/her doubts...

Last Saturday when i was in the hospital, the billing person had to take the blasting of one patient for not receiving his blood test report when he gave blood last evening...she said its not my department to comment on sir...its lab which did not give your reports and they are saying it will take time since there were lot of emergencies yesterday and they had to blood tests immediately for them...the person said so what...i wondered...if it was his/her relative in the emergency room and the hospital says so what...

An another lady blasted at the sonography nurse for bringing an In patient for an emergency sonography with the doctor.... she said i am in the line and the nurse said "emergency hai madam" and she said "emergency ke naam pe tumlog sab ko bhej the ho"...the nurse was speechless cause the lady who was bought in was in tremendous pain and you can see it on her face...I did not understand sonography takes 10mins what is going to happen in that 10mins are you gonna die but definitely that lady's pain can be reduced in that 10mins.

what if you had a emergency and the same doctor says with all the advice of people we have decided not to see emergency patients in OPD timings...then what?

It is not that i encourage nurses and ward people speaking rudely to patients...i also complained to my doctor about a ward lady in OPD who was rude in giving me an answer when i asked when is my turn..I told my doctor that she can't be shouting on me...and she was asked to say sorry..and in the same way i do understand when my doctor comes late to OPD by one hour...cause she says there is an emergency operation and i belive that there is one...

I think expectations from a doctor are too much...he should be the best in the town, he should speak to you with all the patience, even if you don't understand he should be explaining it again and again, even if you don't ask he should explain every detail of the disease as if you are going to give an MBBS exam, he should be on time irrespective of whether you are on time or not, he should be able to handle emergencies, in patients, OPD, Operations all in the same time, he should not be having any personal life....If all these expectations are
met then i think people would call him a perfect doctor and for a perfect hospital the reports should be given on time irrespective of whether you come on time or not to collect them, if possible they should call you and tell you the report, all the staff should be courteous to you whether you are with them or not, all the staff should explain to you what the emergency is if the doctor is late...then that makes a perfect hospital.

In the same hospital there are patients who say "That's ok we understand" and when you are one of them i think you will feel better being in an hospital...You go to hospital to get treated but at the end you walk out being agitated and with an increased BP.

I would say if you want to go to that particular hospital, its your decision. Yes the hospital advertised saying its the best in the town but it never forced you to come there..and if you have gone there you can give your advice as to how can they improve but not criticize them for not attending you at the given time...They at the end of the day save lives...and we have to respect them...Don't sit there and start discussing with other patients how bad is this hospital...you are agitated why agitate others also...When some one of this kind comes to me i smile and get up from there and go away...

There are instances when i am treated early when i had an emergency to go...Its purely because i don't yell at any body when i had to wait for 2 hours for a check up or wait 30 mins for a report.

Hospitality industry is there to serve with patience but then you can't always demand it...

Priya.