Empathy, Trust, Respect - All that your Doctor needs

MUMBAI: In a unique effort to augment support for the selfless services of medical practitioners in the country and to support them to serve patients better, an awareness-cum-people-connect campaign was undertaken on the occasion of National Doctor's Day which is celebrated on July 1. Medical practitioners from across India, in partnership with Servier India Pvt Ltd, participated in a campaign #DoctorsVoiceMatters aiming to bring to light what doctors really need.

This initiative is to be seen in the context of the country's medical resource personnel who work relentlessly to meet the healthcare needs of millions of patients, even under demanding and stressful working conditions. #DoctorsVoiceMatters campaign echoes messages of over 5,992 doctors, that aim at empowering patients with the right information and effective healthcare solutions in return for some empathy, trust and respect.

Long work hours, lack of sleep, stressful working conditions and patient demands are keeping doctors on their toes. Members of the medical fraternity would be able to extend better care to the patients if only patients showed more empathy towards them. "Doctors work persistently for the wellbeing of patients, and they are here to give the right medical advice. However, self-diagnosis based on internet content has somehow become a norm and this could be extremely risky. It is time we move away from managing our diseases solely based on the internet and trust our qualified doctors for effective solutions," said Dr Pierre Perez, Managing Director, Servier India.

It is also to be noted that well-meaning doctors, who despite being earnest in their job, are being put to scrutiny by patients or their relatives with very little or no knowledge about diseases, diagnoses or treatment procedures, hindering the doctors' valuable time. "It goes without saying that it is extremely important to respect the medical practitioners' time since with every minute saved another precious life qualifies to be saved. A lot of questions based on half-baked information can simply be avoided. This will give doctors more time to focus on patient care," asserted Dr Perez.

Doctors on any given day have to deal with different types of patients and their caregivers. What makes their task even more challenging is to deal with patients who are reluctant to disclose their medical history or a few others who look for quick-fix solutions to the health issues they face. "If there is a quick-fix solution, doctors participating in the campaign said, they would be the first to let the patients know. Until then, it is best if patients continue to adhere to prescribed medicines," they cautioned.

The messages gathered from 5,992 doctors from across India via the #DoctorsVoiceMatters campaign has also been published on social media pages of Angina Awareness India, Because I say So and VMOVE. The campaign only hopes to drive people at large to respect their doctors' voice for their own well-being. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article.