The anonymized version of the letter of complaint I sent:
Yesterday afternoon, I brought my grandmother, Mdm XXX, to YYY Polyclinic to see a doctor. After registration, we were sent to Room NN to see Dr ZZZ. The consultation with the doctor was rather unpleasant for my grandmother.
To begin with, the doctor could not converse with my grandmother, who speaks and understands only Malay. But never mind that, as I figured I could do some translation for my grandmother. But the doctor spoke to me (or us) very rapidly and in a condescending tone. I was already taken aback by his tone, and on top of that, I was struggling to translate his specific and somewhat technical questions into something my grandmother could understand. As our miserable attempts to communicate proceeded, my grandmother and I got very frustrated.
But what riled us most was how he took my grandmother’s blood pressure: when he was done, he threw his stethoscope into the sphygmomanometer casing (making a loud sound) and slammed the pressure cuff on his desk. In my life, I have not seen other doctors behave like this before. Even having served as an Army medic during my National Service, I have never encountered nor dispensed this style of healthcare before. Clearly, his credentials as a doctor aside, he gave us the impression of someone who is simply rude, in particular, to someone much older (my grandmother).
I am sure that my grandmother, or any elderly patient, deserves not to be treated this way. Although younger patients might tolerate this kind of treatment, it is still not desirable. I hope for a better experience for my grandmother on our next visit.
Anybody has had a similar experience?
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