Advocate: Young doctors need more training on patients’ rights

A call is being made for young doctors to receive more in depth training about the importance of patients’ rights and working as a team. 

Linnette Vassell, advocacy specialist in the Partnership for the Promotion of Patients' Rights in Maternal, Neonatal and Infant Health (MNIH), said a main complaint she is constantly receiving is that, more training is needed to properly equip young medical professionals to deal with the robust health care system.

She was speaking against the background of issues that were raised during a Human Rights and Patients’ Care Training Workshop, which was held at the Nurses Association of Jamaica’s Headquarters in St Andrew yesterday.

“The first thing that comes across from the provider’s point of view is that we have to prepare the young professionals better. This last conversation has highlighted what has been happening with the trainees,” said Vassell.

“Much wasn’t said about the nurses, but about the doctors and that their training needs to emphasise more fully on the whole business of patients rights.” 

She continued, “What we are hearing is that millennials don’t seem to have an understanding of the team approach to health care. There is also a concern about the habits that they have, of being more concerned about their social communications when they are supposed to be learning on the ward. It might be an isolated thing but I think it is something that we need to look at in terms of how we train the young people for service.”

Vassell also shared that a cohesive approach is needed to help persons understand that even the security guard is a part of the pact, in making sure that patients receive quality health services.

“The security guard is a provider and is very much connected to quality of service that we have. So they need to be taught that not because they see somebody with blood on their face and is in sleeveless, you going to say ‘you can’t come in’,” she stressed.

jodi-ann.gilpin@gleanerjm.com