The challenge for the government is to engage in harder regulatory and supervisory activities to improve in all respects the privately offered medical services

Ethics lacking in privately offered medical services

A report in this paper on Monday says that brokers and agents of private clinics and hospitals have been diverting poor patients from the Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH). This is business for them exploiting the ignorance and helplessness of the patients and their relatives. The report is symbolic, as if, of the lack of ethics in our system of medical care.
Indeed, ethical conditions in the area of medical services continue to leave a lot desired. This was stressed by a deceased President of the country, Zillur Rahman,  some years ago on the occasion of the eleventh International Surgical Congress where he said that our doctors in many cases prescribe unnecessary tests and take also unreasonable fees from patients. This observation would be generally shared by a large number of people who fall ill and are exploited.
It is seen that many doctors have an understanding with the numerous privately run diagnostic centres that have cropped up in the country during the last couple of decades. Many of these so called diagnostic centres are not even properly registered or have licenses. Even some of the ones who have registration and licenses can be found on close examination to be seriously deficient in having appropriately trained and qualified doctors, technicians and other support staff. But incredibly they are successful in evading any kind of oversight actions from authorities.
What is more concern raising is the often underhand relations between these centres and doctors. The doctors are prone to recommending such centres of their choice to patients. For every recommendation a part of the fee charged is reserved for the recommending doctor. Therefore, the temptation on the part of the doctors is to recommend a long list of tests for a single patient though only a few tests could be actually required. The
patients can be doubly harmed from taking out tests in diagnostic centres of dubious value in the first place or even if they are recommended to centers with acceptable standards, from the compulsion to carry out unnecessary tests there.
Hardly regulations are noted in the area of doctors’ consultation fees also and the same are rising higher and higher all the time at the cost of their hapless patients. Thus, the challenge for the government is to engage in harder regulatory and supervisory activities to improve in all respects the privately offered medical services.

 

The challenge for the government is to engage in harder regulatory and supervisory activities to improve in all respects the privately offered medical services

Ethics lacking in privately offered medical services

A report in this paper on Monday says that brokers and agents of private clinics and hospitals have been diverting poor patients from the Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH). This is business for them exploiting the ignorance and helplessness of the patients and their relatives. The report is symbolic, as if, of the lack of ethics in our system of medical care. Indeed, ethical conditions in the area of medical services continue to leave a lot desired. This was stressed by a deceased President of the country, Zillur Rahman, some years ago on the occasion of the eleventh International Surgical Congress where he said that our doctors in many cases prescribe unnecessary tests and take also unreasonable fees from patients. This observation would be generally shared by a large number of people who fall ill and are exploited. It is seen that many doctors have an understanding with the numerous privately run diagnostic centres that have cropped up in the country during the last couple of decades. Many of these so called diagnostic centres are not even properly registered or have licenses. Even some of the ones who have registration and licenses can be found on close examination to be seriously deficient in having appropriately trained and qualified doctors, technicians and other support staff. But incredibly they are successful in evading any kind of oversight actions from authorities. What is more concern raising is the often underhand relations between these centres and doctors. The doctors are prone to recommending such centres of their choice to patients. For every recommendation a part of the fee charged is reserved for the recommending doctor. Therefore, the temptation on the part of the doctors is to recommend a long list of tests for a single patient though only a few tests could be actually required. The patients can be doubly harmed from taking out tests in diagnostic centres of dubious value in the first place or even if they are recommended to centers with acceptable standards, from the compulsion to carry out unnecessary tests there. Hardly regulations are noted in the area of doctors consultation fees also and the same are rising higher and higher all the time at the cost of their hapless patients. Thus, the challenge for the government is to engage in harder regulatory and supervisory activities to improve in all respects the privately offered medical services.