take it easy

no racial
prejudice
involved

By Kulamarva Balakrishna

Vienna,Sunday,February 24,2008: I have read the
Times of India report that Indian doctors are among
medical professionals in Britain's National Health
Service (NHS) who have faced physical and verbal
abuse while performing their duties.I give my perspective
on the report at the end of the report for the sake of
clarity.

A survey by the British Medical Association (BMA)
revealed that a third of doctors in the NHS had
experienced some form of violence - including threats
and verbal abuse- and one in ten had been physically
attacked,including being stabbed, kicked, punched,
bitten and spat at.Speaking for the British Association
of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), Joydeep Grover,
an Indian-origin doctor who works in the Accidents
and Emergency sections in the NHS, said, "We would
support the BMA report on violence in the workplace.
As it points out, medical personnel have a right to work
in a non-threatening and dignified environment."

He added that violence against doctors was not always
physical in nature, but was more frequently verbal. He
added that there was no clear evidence that ethnic
minority doctors were more liable to suffer from such
abuse, "but certainly racial language is still heard in
various circumstances".Grover said that occasionally
patients demanded to be seen by white doctors, and
some, especially older ones can be overtly abusive.
However, he added that most hospital trusts had very
well structured policies against racist behaviour by
patients, and if the matter is raised the patients are
strictly dealt with.(quote end)

This is no news.If in India today,some people go for
Cow Urine Therapy we explain it because that some
have more faith in so called gurus even if they are not
medical experts, as competent to offer medical solutions.
Some go to doctors having fake certificates because
they are nearer relations.Some have an addiction to
bet on horses because they are outsiders promising
to bring larger share of rewards!There is nothing strange
to prefer the familiar t0 the strange.This then only one
factor that contribute to ill treatment of medical
personal of the health service.It is normal in Europe
and America, patients getting impatient and rude
with those who come to help them professionally
out of devotion to duties.At times, the healing angels
also find it difficult to take the rudeness beyond a
point.Even enough white doctors are subjected to
patient rudeness in U.K., other parts of Europe
and Americas.Thus far no further.When that stage
arises,even angels can become devils,djins,satans,
what not.

We in Vienna have medical personnel of all colours,
castes,gender etc.Elder patients here especially are
more demanding from the personnel than the younger
ones.It is because they are impatient with their age
being closer to disappearance.Then the elders feel
let down by the more active younger generation.
This has been dormant in India but going to be explosive
in near future.Medical staff itself over burdened with
the demands of their duties because of the cosmopolitan
mix of the patients.They are also burdened by the
unpreparedness of the health service management
to match the nature of the medical service realities.
It is therefore wrong to attribute this rudeness of the
patients as racial in origin.

In the eighties, Vienna´s medical personnel especially
the European members of the staff came to the
Thus Far borderline.Then they began to tell the old
patients :=aunt/uncle,dear gawd has reserved a room
for you in heavens, go there you will get better treatment=.
The conversation ended with their help in traveling there.
A total of three hundred old aunts and uncles were
thus sent to the heavens by the medical staff either
by administering water on the nose without giving the
breathing chance to the patient or by other undetectable
methods. The case came to light because of outing
by a =hispanic nurse.Nurse Waltraud Wagner,who is
taking a forced life long rest in prison now alone,accounted
for a total of thirty deaths of the patients.So please take
it easy.Do not blame on racial discrimination by the
patients or by the medical staff.Take it easy.

I have myself spent in more than one hospital managed
by the local self government and church under contract to
the local self government for a total of one month or
more. I have found the multi racial medical staff including
Asian especially Indians and Philippines being roughly
handled by the elderly patients in general.I have got the
best of attention and service by the attending staff nurses
and medical helps.In one case a qualified BBC part timer
journalist attended me.Unimaginable in India! In one case,
I have to record,I do not want to reveal the identity of the
very ugly and fat but clean great human hearted Austrian
nurse helping me shave saying =Uncle, let me help you.
I know how it works, I do it for my boyfriend.=I have
also bad experience of a nun nurse,but this is no occasion
for the story. (end)