Workplace Enemies

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious and Merciful

Assalamualaikum people. Today I just want to share this thought of mine that has been bothering me once in a blue moon ever since the beginning of my career, and I just wonder if you ever feel the same in your life. I work in a medical profession, a public servant to be more accurate. As much as cliche it can be, I believe every person in this profession either the doctors, nurses, medical assistants have a strong genuine desire to help other people when they choose this path in the beginning .

If base on experience I am still green in this profession, but personally speaking I cannot denied that there are certain things in the system that bothering me, I called it workplace enemies. Things like bureaucracy policy and the blaming culture which somehow affect the way we deliver our service, and when we unable to deliver our service as expected by the public, there you go COMPLAINTS.

I'll give you an example, I was trained in tertiary hospital and back there we will try to finish our elective cases for operation even if it already passed our normal working hours (8am-5pm). I'm not talking about 1 hour extra, sometimes up to 5 extra hours. But in certain hospitals, it only 4.15pm with one simple case left they already cancel the case because of  NO OT TIME. One team say "It is not our fault for cancelling the case, you drag to much time from the previous case," another team say"I'm sorry sir (patient), it is not us who want to cancel your case today."

Another example, usually when a foreigner without insurance coverage come to government hospital emergency department, they need to pay first before any procedure can be done (x-rays, toilet and suturing, blood investigations). Just imagine if a foreigner came with multiple laceration wounds limb deformity from an accident, unfortunately there is no family members around and he had no cash with him. We can only clean the wound and cover it with bandage while waiting for someone to come and pay for the x-rays and other procedure. As a result, there is a delay in treatment and higher risk of infected wound.

These are some examples of emotional stress that the healthcare providers in government sector have to face every day. In the beginning we do have a great feeling of empathy to the patients, but when you do the "right" thing like doing the procedure even though patient unable to pay, later on when they do the audit, the respective doctor will be responsible for the treatment cost. When you have to face this kind of bureaucracy repeatedly, slowly the empathy inside you will die and after some time you become a robot in the healthcare system. 

We need to address this thing properly, because if those working at the front line become demotivated it will affect the whole system. If you ask me, I think the higher up need to listen to the front liner more often, and the front liner must have a positive attitude when delivering the service. As for me, I try my best to keep my motivation on the right path, if things become out of control that is when I will take a break and go for a short vacation or drive back to see my parents. I alone can't do much about changing the whole system. We need a significant paradigm shift from bottom to the top for us to become better at delivering service. Yes it is difficult, but it is not impossible.

Dr A Khairul