Bad doctors 'force many to seek treatment abroad'<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Poor facilities and badly trained doctors have prompted many
\nIndonesians who can afford it to seek treatment abroad, Minister
\nof Health Achmad Sujudi said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said wealthy Indonesians had spent some US$600 million last
\nyear on their medical treatment in overseas hospitals.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a two-day seminar on the improvement of hospital
\nquality in Jakarta, Sujudi said hospitals often offered
\ninadequate treatment that meant patients often had to fork out
\nmore money for costly medication or pain relief.<\/p>\n
Because of this, and the increasing allegations of malpractice
\nin the press, many Indonesians had little faith in local
\nhospitals, he said.<\/p>\n
Citing the results of a survey, Sujudi said Caesarean section
\ndeliveries in many hospitals had increased sharply in Indonesia.
\n\"Is that true that most women here have hip problems that force
\nthem to get Caesareans?\" he said.<\/p>\n
A Caesarean delivery is normally only made when circumstances
\nsurrounding a birth could put the health of the mother or the
\nchild in danger.<\/p>\n
However, many Indonesian women were now choosing Caesareans
\nfor cosmetic reasons, to avoid labor pains, or even to give birth
\non a certain day for luck.<\/p>\n
\"People here still pay their medical costs based on one-fee-
\nfor-one-service system, which prompts hospitals to offer many
\ncost-effective services in a bid to get more fees from patients,\"
\nSujudi said.<\/p>\n
He said all professionals in hospitals should be full-time. \"A
\ndoctor should only practice in a maximum of three different
\nhospitals.\"<\/p>\n
However, many, if not most, Indonesian doctors worked for a
\nseries of different hospitals, leaving them with little time to
\ncommunicate with their patients.<\/p>\n
\"If we look (at hospitals) abroad, we find they are now more
\npatient-oriented, while most of our hospitals are still doctor-
\noriented. Nurses here only serve doctors, not patients. This is
\nwrong,\" Sujudi said.<\/p>\n
\"Patients like to have good service. Being ill does not mean
\nthey should be treated authoritatively. We should learn to treat
\nour patients more democratically,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Medical services director-general at the Ministry of Health
\nSri Astuti Suparmanto said doctors here often prescribed too many
\nmedicines.<\/p>\n
\"In cases of flu, some doctors often prescribe more than one
\nmedicine, when one might be enough,\" she told the seminar.<\/p>\n
Reports of poor medical treatment at Indonesian hospitals were
\nconfirmed by the head of a marketing department at a prominent
\nhospital in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
She told The Jakarta Post that although she was working for a
\nhospital, she never underwent any medical treatment at home.<\/p>\n
\"I know doctors and their abilities, and I know the service
\noffered by hospitals here. For the sake my own health, I don't
\nthink I would be willing to be treated here,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"We should expect better service from both hospitals and
\ndoctors. To speed up improvements perhaps it would be better for
\nhospitals here to combine in franchises with hospitals abroad,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
She quoted marketing expert, Hermawan Kartajaya, who once
\nsaid, \"If we cannot compete with our enemies, we should make
\nfriends with them.\"<\/p>\n
There are about 1,000 private and 600 state hospitals in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bad-doctors-force-many-to-seek-treatment-abroad-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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