Be friendly to patients, Sujudi says

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Sujudi said medical personnel should provide friendly service rather than callously ask down payment from patients who enter the hospital door.

"Apart from (good) medical treatment, the friendliness of medical personnel would help patients recover, particularly those who are already suffering from distress," Sujudi said at the inauguration of the Dr. Muhammad Yunus General Hospital in Bengkulu yesterday.

He said medical workers should remember and practice the "three S's", namely salam (greetings), senyum (smile), and sapa (warm welcome) every time they received patients and their families.

Unfriendly personnel would instead cause a different set of "three S's", namely stress, which can lead to stroke and finally sakit keras (severe illness), Sujudi was quoted as saying by Antara.

He said he was confident the medical personnel in Bengkulu could serve their patients well. (09)