SHANGHAI: "You
can contact us again if you have any questions. No problem. Take care of your
health," the doctor said, speaking to a patient over the phone.
All his patients have his mobile number. They call
him any time, and at all hours of the day.
34-year-old Bian Zheng Qian from the Shanghai Renji
Hospital's surgery department knows the importance of communication because he
says patients often need a lot of advice and reassurance.
With nine years of medical experience, he has seen
what can happen when that communication and trust breaks down.
"A director from general surgery was beaten up
by a patient's relative. He suffered epidural hematoma caused by the assault on
his head," Mr Bian said.
"The patient died from pulmonary embolism when
there was a sudden blockage of his lung artery during his stay in hospital.
"The patient had not even had surgery but his
family started to make trouble. The family member barricaded all the entrances
to the hospital, and beat up the director."
"When the police arrived, he even wounded the
policemen," he added.
Hospitals in China are seeing more and more of such
violence targeted at doctors.
In another example, two female doctors were beaten
up by a young university graduate who was a relative of a patient they did not
even know.
The university graduate had brought an elderly man
to the emergency department, but decided to bring him home after the graduate
got impatient with the long waiting time, Mr Bian recounted.
The elderly patient died two days later.
"The young man vented his wrath on the
hospital for making him wait so long at the Emergency department. He beat up
two female doctors he didn't even know," Mr Bian said.
"One of them ended up with a concussion and
the other with hematuria and kidney contusion. He even kicked her a few times
when she fell to the floor."
Dr Bian does not share these stories with his
parents because he does not want them to worry.
"They're worried and tell me not come into
conflict with patients. They tell me to run first, if I encounter any
danger," he said.
Dr Bian said there was "an unwritten rule in
all major hospitals -- the windows in the emergency department are always open,
even in the coldest or hottest weather, no matter how many mosquitoes there
are.
"Just in case anything happens, quickly jump
out of the window and run."
The Chinese government has announced stricter
measures to clamp down on those who hurt or threaten doctors and hospital
staff.
Some hospitals have also increased security and
surveillance efforts to protect their staff.
These measures may be a deterrent, but doctors said
the unpredictability of attacks makes them difficult to prevent.
- CNA/wm
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