Editorial (Daily Searchlight of Thursday, 21st July 2022)
The Ghana Medical Association (GMA) has urged healthcare professionals to handle patients under their care with the utmost respect.
The GMA said the trust and loyalty that exist between a healthcare worker and a patient must be upheld at all times.
This is according to the General Secretary of GMA, Dr. Titus Beyuo.
According to him, when a patient comes to a doctor or any other professional in that field, it presupposes that a contract of trust, respect, and loyalty has been signed between the two.
He, therefore, urged healthcare workers to endeavor to adhere to this contract at all times.
“The relationship between a doctor or a healthcare worker and a patient is hinged on some factors. It is a relationship of trust because people trust you with their lives, and with their health and you must handle that relationship with care.
It is also a relationship of knowledge which means that you are the one handling me, you know what you are about, you are a professional and I can expect that.
So that’s the kind of contract they have signed with you by coming to you and there is respect and some bit of loyalty,” he said.
Interestingly, these statements are coming from the GMA at a time many believe that the standard of service offered by medical personnel in virtually all state-owned hospitals in Ghana, is nothing to write home about.
The fact is that Ghana’s hospitals are fast becoming killing fields. Many people complain about the quality of service they receive in our hospitals, often with fatal consequences. The situation has become worse with the advent of Covid-19, where medical persons live in active fear of contracting diseases from patients. In the process, it is the patients who are suffering and dying.
It is therefore the very fervent hope that the advice from the GMA would fall on reception ears.
(This article was first published in the column EDITORIAL of the Daily Searchlight on Thursday, 21st July 2022. The Daily Searchlight appears on the newsstands of Ghana every working day and PDF versions are available for sale online twenty-four hours a day all day throughout the world on www.ghananewsstand.com).
