Everybody was telling me there was nothing wrong

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180523-how-gender-bias-affects-your-healthcare

 

Indeed it does

 

Patients know their individual stories, but doctors must surely be aware and feel some shame/embarrassment/stupidity when they've brushed patients off repeatedly only to eventually find there was a real problem after all. To discover that their own attitude has caused needless pain, suffering and even death.

So, even if they are reluctant to take responsibility for their own mistakes for fear of damaging their career, they must know that IAPT will make these problems more likely to happen and less easy to put right.

Why are they not speaking out? Does the pain and suffering of their patients matter so little?

 

"I did my job correctly, it was just misfortune"

 

Merged thread

Spotted this in a tweet by Derya Unutmaz today, and don't think the article has been shared here?

Maya Dusenbery: "Everybody was telling me there was nothing wrong"
Women are more likely to wait longer for a health diagnosis and to be told it’s ‘all in their heads’. That can be lethal: diagnostic errors cause 40,000-80,000 deaths in the US alone.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1002273096848560128

 

And a not completely unrelated tweet..

https://twitter.com/user/status/1002168592723513344

 

The BBC intends to show more articles on the theme of "The Health Gap". These will be listed on this page as they are produced :

http://www.bbc.com/future/columns/health-gap

 

I'm reminded of this awful story from a few years ago:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/emergency-room-wait-times-sexism/410515/

 

It isn't just women. In 1972 my uncle was not doing well, I can't remember exactly what happened but other people kept telling the family how bad he was but he never seemed that bad when he was around us. His doctor said it was depression and finally told my Dad to have a word with him "or it would become entrenched and he would never get better" Reluctantly, my Dad did this though even at the time I felt he needed more investigation, not people having a word with him.

Then he saw a locum GP who sent him for tests - an incurable brain tumour. My father never got over his guilt.

 

I don't think so. I think most of them don't care.

 

What does this paragraph mean?

1. Women as well as low-income men?
   
2. Non low-income women, plus low-income men and women?
3. Men who have low income are not men?

I find this poor grouping to be very unhelpful in trying to sort out what she is trying to say. Is it a pure gender bias phenomenon, or a gender plus class phenomenon, or a person 'not like a doctor' phenomenon, a mix, or what?

What is the ratio of doctor to patient ratio in areas of low-income compared to other income groups? Are the help seeking behaviours the same for both genders? The same for for different groups? Are there differences in the performance of female and male doctors? Does the doctor's socio-economic background make a difference?

These questions matter in how to see where the problems lie and how they can be challenged.

 

Personally, I think the health service and the medical profession are being manoeuvred into a way of working and thinking that achieves several aims :

1) Lowering people's expectations.
2) Treating symptoms only, rather than properly investigating - it saves money. A headache, for example, can be caused by anything from mild dehydration right up to brain tumours. Doctors will assume the cheapest thing they can think of is the right explanation, if they can get away with it.
3) Blaming the patient's mental health - it's cheaper still.
4) If a few thousand people are lost along the way due to not being treated, well there are plenty more where they came from.
5) The "important" people have private insurance.
6) When the NHS ends up privatised completely, these patterns of working will increase shareholder's profits.

 

I think most doctors want to help their patients

I suspect most doctors want to think they are doing a good job.

I don't think this is about cost, its about hubris, from what they are taught mental is common hence they would diagnose it commonly

Yes this is the real risk, medicine for profit means bad treatment as a slave to the almighty dollar.

 

@Alvin

My beliefs, thoughts and feelings about doctors have developed as a result of the treatment I've received personally. I have realised a few times that I will never see eye to eye on the subject of doctors with people who are happy with their treatment.

 

Mine have as well, most seem to want to help patients even if they are inept to do so. And i have met many who are useless or addicted to anchoring bias
As for profit over people thats another kettle of fish, the bean counters would murder their own mothers for an extra dollar.

That may be a bit harsh, they probably have some standards, which are worth at least two dollars...

 

While I believe that most doctor's are generally trying to do their best, there is little doubt in my mind that the politics about and within the NHS are often counter productive to patient care.

I have seen happen in companies where certain sections are deliberately managed to fail, so that a new system or regime can be brought in, I wonder if that's also the case with the NHS.

Like the DWP policies that were designed to deny benefits and encourage people to take out private health insurance/income replacement policies. I wonder if something similar is happening with healthcare.

Even doctors who want to help have to work within the system and if something is slightly outside the norm their hands are often tied. I've been on the receiving end of this a few times. It has limited meds I can try and has also limited tests the doctor is allowed to run.

The NHS is an important part of politics in the UK, but I don't want to break forum rules with politics, so I'll stop there.

Moderators - if this is too political feel free to remove.

 

Since i'm in Canada i've dealt with a different system so i can't comment on the vagaries of your system, but it does not sound good