LACK OF UNDERSTANDING AND COMMUNICATION
Who does it effect? Usually in medical disputes doctors and patients’ family are affected and are in unequal positions. In many cases, doctors are facing violence and even death threats. For example, on January 20, 2020, three medical staff were stabbed and one patient was injured at Beijing Chao-yang Hospital by a patient named
Shengzhou Qiu (BSPS student)
Zhenguo Cui. Fortunately, no victim was killed. Cui was not satisfied with the effect of his eye treatment and decided
A Global Issue
to attack the medical team in retaliation. Cui was sentenced death penalty with a
In China, 66% of the medical doctors
two year reprieve.
who work in clinical settings claim that they have experienced medical disputes and over 30% of the cases include a
My opinion
certain level of violence, according to the “White paper of Chinese medical doctor profession 2018”. In 2015, approximately
Efforts in medical system reform and
115,000 cases of medical disputes were
doctor’s professional training are required
recorded. In the US, approximately
to help improve this situation. More
17,000 malpractice cases are filed each
medical staff are needed to reduce the
year. All of that is caused by lack of
stress doctors are facing and doctors
understanding and communication.
need to be trained to communicate with patients and their family effectively to
Understanding the Issue
avoid medical disputes. Also people are promoting the education of patients about how to process the information
Many factors including communication problems, organizational structure, role
In Shanghai, a primary doctor only
given by doctors online. This can also be
disputes, lack of resources,
spends 8 minute on a patient on
helpful for the patients to have more
misunderstandings, lack of professional
average. The lack of time spent to
access to knowledge about medical
commitment, can cause the conflict
communicate with patients and
procedures and prevent them from
between patient and doctor.
help them understand the
misunderstanding.
treatment they’re having is the main In particular, the population density in
reason for these medical disputes.
China’s big city is extremely high. The population density of Beijing is 1,312 people per square kilometer and for Shanghai’s most populated district Hongkou it’s 33,816 people per square kilometer.
References:
Wu, Y., Jiang, F., Ma, J., Tang, Y., Wang, M. and Liu, Y., 2021. Experience of Medical Disputes, Medical Disturbances, Verbal and Physical Violence, and Burnout Among Physicians in China. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. He, A. J., & Qian, J. (2016). Explaining medical disputes in Chinese public HOSPITALS: The doctor–patient relationship and its implications for health policy reforms. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 11(4), 359-378. doi:10.1017/s1744133116000128 2018(White paper of Chinese medical doctor profession 2018) 6 . https://health.huanqiu.com/article/9CaKrnK6irf. Accessed February 15, 2021. https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/how-health-disparities-are-shaping-the-impact-of-covid-19.html
中国医师执业状况⽩⽪书 纠纷
：超 成医⽣发⽣过医疗
