Smiling docs, nurses not always appropriate, says DOH

WHILE the Department of Health (DOH) may want medical personnel in government-run hospitals to be less grumpy, there are times when smiling at patients and the people accompanying them would not be appropriate.

What is more important is that fast and efficient medical attention is given to the patients, said a DOH official, in the wake of a congressman’s request that doctors and nurses in public hospitals be told to smile more and treat their patients better.

A wide, happy grin may not be appropriate in some situations, such as when informing a relative the patient had died or was suffering from a serious illness, DOH spokesperson Dr. Eric Tayag said.

“Even though we want to smile for our patient, imagine telling someone: ‘ma’am, your child is dead’ while smiling. That’s a bit off. Let’s put it in the right situation,” Tayag said.

Ghost patients

Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial told congressmen last week in a House appropriations committee hearing on next year’s DOH budget that she was planning to deploy “ghost patients” to government hospitals to see how medical personnel treat their patients.

This after Negros Oriental Rep. Arnulfo Teves and other lawmakers brought up the matter of grumpy and ill-tempered medical staff in public hospitals who mistreat patients who are mostly poor.

Tayag said the DOH could not instruct doctors, nurses and other medical staff to always wear a smile.

“If we order that, it won’t be a voluntary smile and it will have an ill effect on them. A smile might be also misinterpreted. The patient might think the medical staff is laughing at them,” he said.

“What is important is that our patients are comfortable and not suffering in getting medical attention, that they don’t have to queue for long,” Tayag said.

Staff are courteous

He said medical staff in government-run hospitals were courteous and did smile to uplift a patient’s mood.

“Maybe our lawmakers were referring to patients who get yelled at, maltreated or treated in a condescending manner. That’s what the ‘ghost patients’ are going to find out,” Tayag said.

He suggested that surveillance cameras be installed in the hospitals, not only for security purposes, but to monitor erring hospital staff who maltreat patients.

“The DOH will be strict in that aspect of respecting the rights of patients. We won’t be counting how many are smiling and how many are not,” he said.