Charter Of Patients Rights And Responsibilities

The perfect world only exits on the silver screens. As mere mortals we face eventualities in our lives daily, and as such we must not rush to cast judgment on others. Last Friday, September 14, 2018 I had an appointment at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) at 1 pm.  My appointment was made six months ago as a follow up to ongoing allergy issues. I am sure most of you have never heard of Urticaria before. According to the Mayo Clinic urticaria or hives are red, itchy welts that results from a skin reaction. The welts vary in size and appear and fade repeatedly as the reaction runs its course. Individuals dealing with this condition often have significant disruption to their daily lives. It is often a slow and uncomfortable condition to deal with.  During this period your skin itches like crazy and if you are not careful you end up damaging your skin by the constant scratching. Urticaria is considered chronic if the welts appear for more than six weeks and reoccur frequently over months or years. There is also Physical Urticaria in which the patient breaks out in hives due to changes in the climate, this adds to the intricacy in diagnosing the problem. Urticaria can be fatal and as a result immediate medical attention should be sought if anaphylaxis occurs. The essence of this blog is more about what occurred at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) on the afternoon of Friday, September 14, 2018. I arrived for my appointment at minutes to 1pm.  I have been attending this clinic for about two years, by now I know the procedure.  I went to the cashier and handed her my health insurance. The information was processed and then I was handed a receipt. After this was done I took the receipt and walked to where the clinic was scheduled to be held.  I handed the lady on duty my receipt after which she told me to sit and listen for my name. All seemed to be going as normal up to this point as I took my place on one of the benches, joining scores of other patients.  A few minutes went by, and then an hour went by. At 2 pm no one called my name and by then a few other patients were wondering what was happening since we did not hear any names being called. At approximately 2.50 pm a male who had on a white coat came out and invited all the patients for the skin clinic to come on the inside. It was with a sense of relief that we all complied.  It was approaching two hours now since our scheduled appointment but when you go to the public health facility you go expecting to wait. Have you ever had a gut feeling about a situation or someone? I had a gut feeling that something was wrong. The same gentleman who invited us inside, (I assumed he was a nurse) used the telephone assigned at the desk he was operating from to call one of the senior dermatologists. I suspected he too was a bit concerned about what was not happening. Based on his reactions during the telephone conversation I was prepared for the worst. From where we sat us all could hear what he was saying. As soon as he hung the telephone up he said, “sorry for the inconvenience”. I braced myself for the bad news. I suspected other patients did likewise. He told us that the clinic had to be postponed because the doctors were at a conference. This form of disrespect meted out to the patients only occurs in public hospitals. It is reasonable to assume that the doctors knew before hand that they had a conference. It is very unlikely that you would inform a number of doctors on the day of a conference that they should attend. There was clearly some sort of miscommunication or non-communication between the Appointment Office at the UHWI which are mandated to call patients informing them of any postponement of appointments.  It bares thought that if the Appointment Office was not given this information by the doctors who were scheduled to work on Friday, September 14  then they could not pass on this information. Do you think the doctors would have treated their private patients with this scant regard? Absolutely not! There were patients of various age groups, among them the elderly. In fact one lady who accompanied her mom said her mom was 78 suffering with diabetes. She added that they were at the hospital from shortly after 9 am. “I had breakfast here as well as lunch”. This is most unacceptable on the part of the University Hospital of the West Indies. This display shows how the average Jamaican is treated  in a manner lesser than and also reinforces a culture of classism within the public health care system in which the most vulnerable are allowed to feel separate and apart. Do you think I am unreasonable? I am fully aware that things do happen in which we have little or no control over, however, I do believe someone dropped the ball this time around and someone should be held accountable.   
Moving Forward
How can we ensure that this type of undesirable behaviour does not happen again?  There needs to be a realization concerning the management of the University Hospital of the West Indies that some patients would have travelled hundreds of miles to get to the UHWI, others would have had to ask for time off from work in order to be at the scheduled appointment. I suggest that public health care facilities develop a Charter of Patients Rights and Responsibilities which would outline minimum standards of service to expect in a reasonable time frame.  This should also give the patients some idea of any recourse they can take should there be breach. Additionally, this Charter should also include basic responsibilities of the patient.  Perhaps, now is a good time for us to be reminded that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3, speaks to good health and the promotion of  well- being of all at all ages in order for sustainable development.  All that is required is that we become a bit more sensitive regarding the time of others.  Is it too much for us to treat others how we would like to be treated? The onus is on all of us to assist in developing and fostering a culture of respect for others regardless of their status in life, it in only by doing so that we can have a progressive and inclusiveness society.                          
Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues.
waykam@yahoo.com
@WayneCamo

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