HYDERABAD: Soon after a doctor hands over prescription of diagnostic tests that a person has to undergo and the medicines they have to take, most of the people attribute vested interest to the doctor’s suggestion. The notion ‘Doctors prescribe unnecessary tests or medicines’ is widely prevalent in society. And this is one aspect that medical fraternity in the State has acknowledged and want to resolve.
On Sunday, prominent doctors and heads of major private hospitals for the first time convened at a conference in Hyderabad to discuss loss of trust on doctors, its far reaching consequences and what should be done about it. Chariman of CARE Hospitals, Dr Somaraju B said that fundamental requirement in medicine is patient’s well being and to restore him/her to best of possibilities.
“For that, we need to trust each other. Right from the words we speak, the trust and healing component begins,” Dr Somaraju said, adressing media on sidelines of the conference titled ‘Not just Meds-Let’s talk beyond medicine’. Explaining the threat that loss of trust poses, Dr K Hari Prasad, president, Apollo Hospitals, said destruction of trust could lead to American model of health care which is more expensive.
“You talked about tests being done in India.
I can challenge you they do 100 times more tests in the USA than here. And the reason is simple, they have become protective, they want to defend themselves, the doctors, against any litigation. I think trust is not going to come back unless all of us will work together,” Dr Hari Prasad said. Citing an example of a State in India, withholding its name, about how erosion of trust is affecting both patients and hospitals, Dr Hari Prasad said that people have started to travel to other States. “People have begun to travel out of State, and hospitals have been refusing to take any complex and life threatening cases. It is the poor patient who is suffering at end of the day,” he said.