According to a new survey, 92% of people do not trust the health care system in India, with hospitals being the most suspicious organization, followed by pharmaceutical and insurance companies. The study is based on data from the National Health Survey of India (NHSI) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
In the survey, 74 percent of people said they do not trust hospitals, followed by pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and healthcare providers in India. The fact that countries like India provide more than half of the world's total health insurance coverage for patients shows how expectations of quality and accuracy are driving change in this rapidly developing nation. In February 2018, the National Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in the Indian capital Pune was also instructed to approve medical claims for pathology laboratories after unlicensed and unqualified staff signed off on reports, reports the Punes Mirror.
People who distrust the health system are less likely to follow doctors' instructions, according to a new study of breast cancer patients. The fact is that the women in the study who chose follow-up treatment did not necessarily distrust their doctors. There is no doubt that the trust of patients and state regulators is a valuable asset.
This may be in part due to many past scandals involving placebos and C-sections in unnecessary circumstances. Doctors in many parts of the country, especially in rural areas, are known to get away with this. Insurance scandals such as Sahara just add on to the distrust
The average physician who is stationed in an outpatient clinic sees about 350 patients every day, so it is logical to assume that the quality of care could sometimes forgotten or impaired due to the large number of patients treated in a small window of time. This can give patients the feeling of neglect and only partially satisfy them.
Despite this, patients need to remember that the physicians have been trained for years in their respective fields, and that more patients doesnt mean less quality of care.
Last but not least, the government seems to be rapidly abandoning its role in providing efficient health care. State hospitals account for just 20% of health care in the country, and emerging private hospitals and clinics, most of which are unregulated, account for a large share. The choice is between overburdened state hospitals with horizontal queues, like sheep-huddled corpses, where infection rates are high and diagnostic facilities crumble. Or to spend high costs at a private hospital at the promise of better quality of care.
Half of households (51%) in India go to private facilities, with 80% reporting at least one quality problem, according to the Commission, citing lack of access to adequate healthcare, poor quality of care and long waiting times. Quality concerns are defined as "short waiting times, long waiting times and poor patient care," not to mention bypassing government facilities. The Commission cites a number of reasons for the high level of dissatisfaction with private healthcare.
In addition to poor quality, insufficient access to care could lead to chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) not having enough time to be treated and stabilized.
Within a generation, the status of doctors in our society has sunk to an abject low. This happened at a time marked by the rise of modern medicine and proof of its ability to treat disease.
The respect doctors, patients and their families had for doctors has been replaced by distrust, mistrust and anger.
But COVID could change that.
The effort by several world leaders, including Modi, to have movements supporting healthcare workers is a step in the right direction. For it builds trust, and makes doctors feel appreciated for being the backbone of the fight against the pandemic.
Doctors arent trying to trick people,
doctors save lives.
Image Courtesy of the Economic Times