I completely empathise 🌺
I wish there was a means to ensure these people upheld their professional responsibilities, however recourse only comes with gross negligence - and in Au it’s almost impossible to prove it because of our systems; even when people die from negligence, the docs still practice as if nothing happened.
I believe it starts with apathy and a corruption of perspective and power: apathy because they are not held to account and start to believe that they are demigods, with the power/little accountability to treat people with utter impunity by judging them as ‘worthy’ or ‘unworthy’ using a completely subjective and nonsensical internal scale of likability/credibility on presentation…a great example of this is a doc telling me that because I look fine, there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong (complete with snort, shake of head, and sideways gaze down its nose); to which I responded I didn’t know they taught ocular xray skills at medical school 🤦🏻‍♀️
My mechanic would never say to me oh your car looks fine, so there’s nothing wrong with it - no; he listens to my report of the symptoms and gets to work investigating and diagnosing the problem, and promptly tells me what is needed to fix it. He doesn’t tell me my car is a liar, or that if he can’t find it on cursory examination that the problems isn’t there. If he did, I’d say he would be out of business kinda quickly.
The difference with medics is they have the market in their vice grip, and know that people are a commodity that can be much easier manipulated when they’re vulnerable and unwell, and have few options for care.
So, apathy, moral and ethical corruption, abuse of power, and rampant god complex. Everyone has been working hard through covid, not just medics. I have a lot more empathy for the everyday people who put themselves at huge risk without access to the workplace protections that medics had, like cleaners, sanitation/water/sewage workers, PPE manufacturer workers, and others who worked with other exposures during the pandemic - these people are the ‘heroes’ that prevented spread; critical to reducing the load on the medical community, and yet they take all the glory (and have no hesitation in promoting themselves as such), and acting like they’ve been harmed by a great burden. What about the people you’re paid very well to care for?
I know my feelings don’t resonate with everyone, and it’s based solely on my experiences, but regardless of what my opinion is, they are hurting people by treating themselves like something above everyone else, an area of work that collectively deserves a 5-star holiday while patients are still suffering, and conducting themselves like fools when neglecting their duty and getting away with it because there is no other alternative medical pathway for people.
Keep calling them, keep telling them how they have stuffed up, and keep holding them accountable.
I do tell my doc how I have more professional respect for the diagnostic skills of my mechanic than I do in their use of all the years of wasted education they’ve undertaken; no hesitation. And then I say that incredulous face you’re giving me right now has no place in this consultation. Do..your..job.
I have been known to be short and sharp when they don’t meet appropriate industry standard these days…🙂

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