A group which represents the rights of patients has called for a proper complaints system to be introduced in the health system. It says the existing system is "worse than none".
The annual report of the Irish Patients' Association (IPA) paints a disturbing picture of bad treatment experienced by people when they were ill. Problems of a "lack of dignity and bad communications" are repeatedly cited in letters and phone calls to the association throughout the year. "Any system that leaves patients feeling humiliated, degraded, abused or assaulted needs to question its fundamental attitude to patients," says the report, which has not yet been published.
It will put further pressure on the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, who faces criticism in the Dail today about lengthening waiting lists, the funding of the health services and the ongoing unrest at University College Hospital in Galway.
The IPA, a voluntary organisation set up in 1995, has called for a "clear, simple, fair and comprehensive complaints procedure to be established in all areas of health care", with an appeal and monitoring system included. The association received 65 letters of complaint and numerous telephone calls during the year.
A patient advocacy service should also be part of the system. "Patients and their relatives need support in solving problems and in mediating disputes between patients, their relatives and professionals and institutions."
The report calls for patients to be represented at all levels of health management, including medical schools and hospital boards, and to have more representation on the Medical Council.
"For too long, patients' voices have been silenced and excluded from decision-making. Professionals have considered themselves best equipped to put forward the patients' perspective and to make decisions in their interest. This has patently not worked. Even the Minister for Health has a conflict of interest when it comes to representing patients," says the report.
A revolution in the way health professionals think and act towards patients is required, according to the association. It calls for a serious reassessment of the way doctors are recruited and trained. An overhaul of "the medical sub-culture and ideology that value secrecy, status and professional power over the rights of patients" is needed, it says.
The report also calls for the examination of medical school selection procedures which are based on getting very high points in the Leaving Certificate to study medicine. "We may be recruiting those least suited to a caring profession."
Medical schools need to pay more attention to teaching students the value of good communication and interpersonal relationships, the report says. "Detailed training in these matters must be undertaken as an intrinsic part of medical education."