There are many advanced tools used in the process of making a diagnosis and treating patients. However, the initial response to a person’s injury or illness typically begins with a conversation between doctor and patient.
It’s pivotal that all patients are listened to in medical institutions, and here’s why:
Listening is so important to the foundation of trust
The doctor/patient relationship is built upon trust. Doctors have both a legal and ethical duty to provide the highest standard of care, which includes making a patient feel valued. While doctors usually adhere to these expected standards, they are only human, and mistakes, as well as errors in judgment, are possible.
If a doctor refuses to listen to a patient, then they could be missing out on vital information. It’s not possible to run tests for every single illness simultaneously, so listening carefully to a patient’s symptoms can help narrow down what needs to be done.
In simple terms, if a patient has not been listened to, they may not get the right treatment. By receiving the wrong treatment, or not receiving any treatment at all, a potentially fatal condition could get worse. Even if the error is eventually caught, the patient has still been made to suffer unnecessarily.
Holding medical professionals to account for their mistakes
You are not obliged to be treated by a medical professional who makes you feel uncomfortable. If negligent care has worsened your condition or made you suffer unnecessarily, there are ways that you can hold doctors to account. Seeking guidance from someone with knowledge in the area of medical malpractice will help you to obtain some form of justice.
