The General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr Titus Beyuo, has said people who lack the ability to understand or share the feelings of others have no business working in the health sector.

He explained that there are days nurses and doctors can, naturally, be in a bad mood due to what may have happened prior to the work.

However, they are expected to demonstrate a high sense of professionalism and ensure they relate very well with their patients.

Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, Dr Beyuo reckoned that it is unacceptable for any nurse or doctor to refuse to offer needed help to a patient because it is integral to their work.

He was addressing concerns over some experiences patients go through at the hands of healthcare professionals when they visit the health facilities.

“You don’t even need to be a health worker to have this kind of empathy. Somebody is in pain, has had a procedure, says help me and you are asking the person to get someone else to do that, when you are being paid to do that? That is unacceptable.

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“If that has been proven that that is the nature of that staff, then really the person has no business in the clinical sector. It could be that the person has good days, bad days, what has happened on that day, I cannot tell but that is not acceptable,” he said on Thursday, July 28.

The obstetrician said it is important standards are set for all health workers to follow, even though the Patient’s Charter exits as a law to guide their duties.

In addition to this, he wants all patients empowered because “a lot of them come from the system where they are made to believe that once a doctor issues a directive, they cannot say anything about it; they cannot argue with the doctor.”

Dr Beyuo described the phenomenon as wrong.

“Every Ghanaian patient should be empowered to know that no doctor, no nurse and no laboratory personnel has the right to touch you without telling you what they are going to do and making sure you understand clearly what they are going to do and all your questions addressed.

“You don’t come to me and I give you a prescription and you don’t have a right to know what it is,” he added.

The discussion was borne out of the theme for the 22nd Annual Public Lecture of the Ghana Medical Association, “Healthcare Worker-patient Relationship in contemporary times.”

The Public Lecture will be held at the Volta Serene Hotel in Ho on Friday, July 29, 2022.