Declaring the seminar open, the State Commissioner for health Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf dwelled on how doctors operate in their profession without much consideration for ethics.
He urged the health practitioners to respect patients because they are human beings not animals.
He noted that the way private health practitioners were exploiting their practice was unethical, saying, “most of what is happening now in private practice is unethical. Doctors are out to make fortunes out of peoples’ misfortunes. This is unfortunate because the essence of practicing is to safeguard the life and health of the public,” he said.
He added that health practitioners should beware of the implications of their unethical practices because according to him people were becoming more conscious of their rights.
According to him private practice is indispensable not only in Nigeria but all over the world, adding that they should not give priority to what they would get in terms of monetary gain but should expect their reward from God.
The commissioner called on both the private and public associations to avoid conflict among them so as not to cause any disservice to humanity.
In his welcome address, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso on private health facilities, Dr Salisu Ibrahim said the seminar was organized to sensitize the health practitioners on how to improve the quality of care they give their patients.
He said that if the practitioners insist on practicing without giving due consideration to the ethics of the profession, the indices would continue to go down in the state.
He disclosed that the seminar followed series of inspection tours carried out by his unit to private hospitals in Kano where he discovered some irregularities and based on that, he decided to bring the proprietors of these facilities with some other health practitioners in the state to sensitize them on how to improve on their health care service delivery.
On doctors-patients relationship a lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bayero University Kano, Dr Auwalu Umar Gajida in a paper he presented said doctor-patient relationship was central to the practice of medicine.
He said that such relationship was essential in delivering high quality health care and it forms the foundations of medical ethics.
Gajida pointed out that the relationship between doctors and patients is not always satisfactory because each party has a different expectation, “To the doctor, illness is a disease process measured and understood through lab tests and clinical observations but to the patient, illness is a disruption to his life and wants the doctor to remove that thing,” he said.
He said that the way a doctor would resolve this problem and have his patient have confidence in him was to cultivate a patient centered relationship.
He advised that doctors should give their patients a listening ear and should try to develop good communication skills using both verbal and nonverbal method, stressing, “Doctors who encourage patients to talk get more information to arrive at a diagnosis of the patients’ problem.”
Gajida further noted that doctors must show sympathy to their patients and work on mutual trust, “Showing genuine interest, sympathy and understanding enhance trust and encourage patients to follow advice and instructions.”
He said that the kind of behavior a doctor shows his patient plays a significant role on how the patient gets cured.
He advised doctors to get close to the patient and listen to him after creating an enabling environment that would make the patient feel free to talk to the doctor.
On the part of the patient, Gajida advised them to simply relate the nature of the illness, its symptoms to the doctor, “Brief, focused and plain facts get the doctor on the right tract. Patients should develop clear description of symptoms before the visit and not during the visit.”
He encouraged patients to learn more about illness so that they could be able to explain themselves well to the doctor and ask relevant questions.
Explaining further on the rights of the patient, the don said patients have the right to be treated without discrimination, saying, “patients have the right to receive treatment without discrimination based on race, color, sex, tribal origin, source of payment or liability to pay,” he said.
He added, “They also have the right to receive emergency care where needed and rights to confidentiality and privacy must be maintained during counseling, physical examination, clinical procedures and in handling their personal information and medical records.”
It is also the rights of the patients according to him to be treated in a respectful and clean environment. “Patients deserve assurance for safe, effective services delivered by qualified health personnel according to standard guidelines.
“Health staff should wash their hands before and in between procedures and after handling wastes.
“Disposable syringes and needles should be used in treatment,” he said.
He said patients have the rights to dignity, comfort and expression of opinion, and that they must be treated with respect, their opinions should be considered in their care. Physical examination and other procedures should be carried out with patient’s dignity and respect in mind and waiting and delay of time should be reduced reasonably, he added.
Where doctors show negligence in handling a patient, they would be liable to either of the three penalties as explained by a lecturer from the Faculty of Law, Bayero University Kano, Musa Usman Abubakar.
They could be liable to, “Striking the person’s name off the relevant register or registers, suspending the person from practice by ordering him not to engage in practice as medical practitioner or dental surgeon, as the case may be, for such period not exceeding six months as may be specified in the guidelines meant to admonish the person.”
