Patient Safety & Role of Younger Healthcare Professionals

In today's ever-changing healthcare environment, it is crucial to strike a balance between technology and ethical practices in order to ensure the safety and well-being of patients, said experts at the first edition of BW Healthcare World's Festival of Healthtech. 

In a panel discussion on "Patient Safety - The Role of Younger Healthcare Professionals" experts from the industry spoke on the greater role of young professionals in ensuring patient safety. 

Dr Kamini Rao, Founder Chairperson, Medline Academic said, “The health care professionals have become almost devoid of empathy towards the patient. Almost two decades ago the approach used to be a patient-centric approach but it has now shifted to a technology-centric approach. Now healthcare professionals no more care about the emotional well-being and self-esteem of the patient, so much so that the patients are commodified. The patients are treated like an object further they are used to do the marketing for the hospitals.”

Dr Swati Bhat, MD, IPSC India said that the evolution of patient safety can be seen as it has transformed from a Goal to a Concept. "This simply means that the Patient is now not considered which has to be achieved today or tomorrow but it is a process that needs to be followed every day. It is not something which is gauged by noting down the numbers but it is in a continuum,” she added. 

Safety of Tech Surgeries

Dr Rao said that technologically driven surgeries are far safer than the conventional method of surgery adding that the modern techniques of anaesthesia and close monitoring of the patient using Infrared cameras are some of the key advancements. 

"The more important question to ask would be, whether surgeries are necessary or not. What are the medical ailments where surgery should be prioritised? Surgeries have become an easy source of revenue therefore it has become a trend to perform a surgery even if it is not required. Nowadays, there are many doctors who are functioning like corporates, and even if they are asked to work ethically, I doubt how many of them will follow.”

Speaking on evolving technology in healthcare Dr Bhat said that the country has progressed by leaps and bounds in terms of technology adding that in robotic surgery the time of recovery is far less than the traditional way of surgery.