Chioma Umeha
Medical doctors and other stakeholders have
recommended the retraining of healthcare practitioners to improve service
delivery.
They also suggested for improved communication
between patients and healthcare providers as tool to achieving quality
improvement for patients.
They made the recommendations at a health
symposium in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the
event organised by Synapses Medical Network (SMN) is themed: “Customer Service
for Health Symposium’’.
Dr Dorothy Jeff-Nnamani, the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO), Novo Health Africa, an NGO, attributed the major reason of
dissatisfaction among patients to the failure of healthcare providers to
understand that they are running businesses.
Jeff-Nnamani said most doctors erroneously believe
that patients would always come to them when they are sick.
She said there are three basic elements to help
improve patients’ experience at hospitals.
“What they see is the first element; the ambience.
Does it have a feel of a clean centre? Can I be healed here?
“How they feel about the place. Is it organised?
Can they keep proper records?
“What they hear when they are there. Also, is the
doctor listening to the patient or is he taking a call during consultation? Are
you communicating with the patient?’’ she said.
The official therefore enjoined hospitals to be
timely in delivering service and to ensure that patients are treated with
respect in line with best global practice and as it is experienced in other
industries.
Dr Segun Ebitanmi, Chief Operating Officer (COO),
Outreach Hospitals, stressed the need for good customer service experience to
patients, particularly as they go to healthcare providers when they are most
vulnerable.
He noted that lack of patient satisfaction was one
of the reasons people go on medical tourism.
“Patient experience encompasses the rate of
interactions patients have with the healthcare system.
“That experience we don’t give them here is the
biggest problem with our industry,” he said.
Ebitanmi advised medical directors and managers of
healthcare facilities to improve on staff attitude, beginning from themselves.
“Each staff needs to understand that for patients,
every second counts.
“If you want to correct attitude, start by
evaluating yourself,” he said.
Dr Wenike Briggs, Chairman, Guild of Medical
Directors (GMD), Lagos State chapter, said that patients had more confidence in
the older doctors.
She said it was evident on the experience they had
while consulting with such doctors.
Briggs also noted that customer service and the
business aspects of medicine was not part of the curriculum at medical school.
He urged hospitals to retrain doctors to be able
to meet up with the challenges of changing trends.
“The onus is on the MDs to retrain our young
doctors to be empathetic and represent us well,” she said.
Speaking on the event, Seyi Adebanjo, Senior
Manager, Project and Operations, SMN, said the aim of the symposium was to
serve as a wakeup call for healthcare providers to begin to see how to improve
on their practices.
She said communication and customer service were
key factors that were missing in achieving the desired results.
She urged healthcare providers to improve on their
communication and choose the right words with patients.
“Choose your words carefully. Don’t use words
like, ‘I don’t know, I’ll try’. It’s either you can or cannot,” she said.
Dr Lawumi Oluborode, Executive Manager, Society
for Quality in Healthcare in Nigeria (SQHN), recommended for a patient
complaint system that is interactive and gives feedback in hospitals.
“When you have complaints, involve your patients
as much as possible,” she said.
She advised the medical directors to ensure that
they find out how their workers treat customers.
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