No more dr Oz bloke, just me

aka Dr Charlotte Charlatan

Thursday, December 07, 2006

You want Dr Patch Adams in Singapore?

Read this letter in the Today newspaper.

Where's the spirit of care?
A hospital should not be a place that patients dread
Letter from Adeline Ang P Y
I refer to the Coffee With interview, "A healer, not a doctor" (Dec 4).
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Earlier this week, I visited a child cancer patient in hospital, and got the feeling that the human touch was missing in the healthcare services offered to the patients.
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In the same ward a girl, about 10, was warded for chemotherapy. She was in much pain and I could hear her groans.
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Her mother called for a nurse who came by her bed shortly. The child pleaded for medication to ease her pain. The nurse, a senior in rank, replied loudly and curtly that the medication would cause dehydration and could not be administered.
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The girl, almost in tears, continued to plead and even offered to drink more water to counter the dehydration. The nurse brushed aside her pleas, said she would get the doctor, and then abruptly left.
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It was heart-wrenching to see a child pleading for comfort, only to be turned down in such an uncompassionate way.
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I am not in a position to speak about medication or treatment. Rather, I hope to raise awareness on the need for a sincere, caring attitude in healthcare providers, so easily forgotten in the day-to-day rush.
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We hear stories of patients who miraculously survive life-threatening illnesses. More often than not, these survivors exhibit a positive attitude, which contributes to their healing. The sad truth is, not everyone can find the same will to remain positive, especially during times of sickness.
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It then becomes the responsibility of their loved ones and healthcare providers to help them get through difficult moments.
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American doctor Dr Hunter (Patch) Adams, renowned for his unconventional caregiving ideas and the inspiration for the 1998 movie Patch Adams, believes in bringing joy to his patients in order to elevate the possible and relieve their suffering.
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He said that the loudest cry of patients is compassion and attention, and intimacy is the greatest gift we can give them, especially on their deathbed.
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In the case of what I saw, these are patients too young to comprehend their suffering. Where the spirit of care and tenderness is lacking in their caregivers, a hospital becomes a dreaded place, when it should actually be a sanctuary for patients to receive physical and emotional healing.
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I am proud of our world-class medical expertise with our pool of highly qualified doctors, nurses, advanced medication and equipment. While this business of high-tech medicine can help treat illnesses, it does nothing to address the human and emotional needs of our patients, which are sometimes so quickly forgotten.


When I was a medical student, I did watch the movie Patch Adams starring Robin Williams. It was quite inspiring, but I doubt any medical student would have thought of doing such a thing.

Singapore is all about being conventional. Being careful. You simply don't try to be funny.

Ironically one of the leading stories in the Today paper this morning illustrates my point nicely.

YouTube, you leave
StarHub fires temp staff for 'misconduct' in office
Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg
THEY wore company T-shirts. They horsed around in the office and posted clips of themselves on the popular online video sharing website YouTube.
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It was after office hours and in their mind, it was harmless fun, but the company did not see the funny side of it. Now one of the two temporary employees engaged by StarHub has been let go while the other is facing possible disciplinary action.
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The two clips — posted in October — were two to four minutes long, and showed Mr Terence Tan, 25, and a colleague in a company T-shirt playing around with a small anti-stress ball, while others watched.
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About a fortnight ago, Mr Tan said, the management reprimanded him and ordered him to take down the clips, which by then had generated some 460 hits between them.
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On Tuesday, Mr Tan, a first-year visual arts student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, was sacked. The reason he was given? He had tainted StarHub's image and reputation.
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"I thought the matter would be over after the scolding. I just posted the clips online because we thought they were quite funny. I passed the link to other colleagues who wanted to see it. It's not like I wanted to tell the public that StarHub was a slack place — nothing of that sort," said Mr Tan, who had been engaged as a promoter since July. StarHub had previously hired him for nine months in 2004.
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Ms Chan Hoi San, StarHub's head of human resources, said that Mr Tan's services were "discontinued due to misconduct in our office premise", referring to the filming and posting of the clips.
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Arising from this incident, all staff were also told to take down any other clips taken in the office which they had posted — including those of birthday celebrations.
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"StarHub expects an employee's first priority to be the performance of his job responsibilities, and all employees are required to comply with company policies at all times," said Ms Chan.
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The story may not end there.
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The telco said it is still looking into the incident and would not rule out disciplinary action against the other temporary staff in the clips.

So any Dr Patch Adams wannabes......you have been warned!

posted by Dr Oz bloke @ 5:33 PM

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