The doctor

Winter in the South part of the planet is behind us as it has moved North for the summer. Many of us have suffered this winter with the dreaded flu. As much as I respect the little virus, as it is really a tough little bugger who embraces change to survive, it does not make us feel to peachy while it resides inside of us.

One time or another, because the flu does not simply vanish, we land up sitting in the doctor's rooms, with other coughing and spluttering people, as the virus reunites with old friends and family. Or for that matter, there are hundreds of other reasons we could be sitting, waiting for the good old doc.

Now my bitch is not about the tiny little invader, but about the profession we turn to, to kill it.

Firstly, we phone and make an appointment. We promptly arrive ten minutes before the time, as we hate to be late. The time that our appointment is set for approaches, passes, and still we wait.....and wait....and wait.
Twenty minutes, sometimes even longer, we are called and enter the sacred room. No apology of course. I mean they are doing us a favour by granting us some of their valuable time, a privilege we pay good money for.

Then they ask us what is wrong- if we knew we would not be there in the first place. After a rough examination, that usually involved blood pressure being tested, your breathing listened to, and once in a while your ears and throat are checked. If your are in for ten minutes it is long.

Then you drag your sorry arse to the pharmacy to spend another fortune on medicine and go home. Three to five days later your medicine has run out- and your condition has not really changed.

So, you find yourself going back to the doctor to repeat the entire process. Just what you feel like. Now for this visit, most doctors make you pay as well. Usually in other professions, when a job is not done, there is some type of free follow up to rectify the problem. If your take you car in, and they don't fix it properly, they fix it the second time free of charge. If you call a builder and he messes up, he will come and fix his mess for free. In medicine, in essence, you pay extra for their mess up.

There is no refund on the purchase of the medicine that did not help you, or discount on the new medicine you have to buy this time.

In my humble view, doctors should treat patients like customers and run their practises like a business. There are many and we do not have to go to a specific one, we are able to choose. If you have an appointment for a certain time, they should ensure they see you that time, as in any other field. I bet they throw tantrums when they are made to wait.
Granted they have studied for long and achieved something to become doctors, but they have to get off their clouds and realise that they are nothing special. Advocates, for example study for just as long- yet they honour appointments. Doctors, like all of us, are human and they should treat each and every patient, as if they were a paying client and value your money. Yes, the more patients you squeeze into your 11am appointment, the more money you get.But a business, especially a medical one, should be built on more than just the need to accumulate money.

Doctors should become doctors first and foremost to help other humans.