On December 27, a patient went to the OPD at Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) after receiving treatment at a private hospital, simply to follow up and seek a medical opinion. A junior doctor writing the patient’s medical history had a discussion with another junior doctor. The doctor sitting opposite asked, "If he had received treatment at a private hospital, then why has he come here?" The history-writing doctor was quite humble and responded positively, doing her job well.
The point is, government hospitals are meant to provide care to the general public. No doctor should question why a patient has come to a government hospital. Doctors should focus on providing their medical opinions in the patient's records. Another suggestion: GMC authorities should place name tags on the doctor's table so we can recommend and praise them.
A doctor must heal a patient using appropriate medical language. I hope the GMC dean and the Health Minister will take cognisance of this issue. We should never discourage any patient with retorts like, "Who has sent you here?" or "Why has he come here?" in government hospitals. Finally, the junior doctor told the patient, "Come any time if you have any problem." As the saying goes, first impressions are the last impressions—so let's strive to be good.
