This letter is regarding a painful experience faced by my mother at a doctor's clinic at one of Karachi’s hospitals.
KARACHI: This letter is regarding a painful experience faced by my mother at the out-patient clinic of a doctor at one of Karachi’s biggest hospitals. She had a cataract surgery performed on December 27, by the doctor who is supposed to be a renowned surgeon. I had heard that he normally made his patients wait between two to three hours, so I was expecting that much of a wait.
The day after the operation my mother was called in for an appointment at nine in the morning, along with all the others he had operated on the previous day. We were told to come in early, by around 8:30 am so as to be among the first patients.
We reached the hospital at 8:30 am on the dot and met the doctor’s assistant, after which we were told to wait. We were told that the doctor would reach by 10:30 am. He arrived at 11 am and when my mother wished him “good morning” he walked past without any acknowledgement.
When we went in to his office, he checked my mother’s eyes, gave instructions to his assistant and said he would see us in six weeks. All of this took less than a minute of us entering his room. As we were leaving, my mother asked — and only because she works — that would we be made to wait three hours again? At this, the good doctor became very angry and it seems his Hippocratic Oath of serving humanity went out the window. He became very rude and began berating her as if she had no right to question him.
His exact words were: “I am fed up of this attitude of patients! Do you have any idea how many surgeries I did yesterday? 32! And how long did it take me to see you? Just one minute!”
My mother did not lose her cool and politely replied that she had only asked because she worked herself. And that as a professional, one expected him to at least arrive on time and see his patients on time. To this, the doctor replied, in a very loud voice: “Oh! As a professional, you say!? (tossing her file into a basket on the floor). Why don’t you go find another doctor! I have many patients! You go find yourself a ‘professional’ doctor”.
I tried to come to my mother’s rescue but the doctor told me to “butt out”. That is when my mother and I just walked out of the room. We had never encountered such belligerence and arrogance from a person who is supposed to calm patients down and make them feel better. One expects basic courtesy from an educated person, especially someone who is a doctor.
Natasha Shammul Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2012.
