Why clinic times are getting shorter

I read a discussion somewhere where a doctor was saying he envied the doctor next door. He always hears giggles when a patient is there. Each patient that goes there spends 30 minutes with the doctor!

A doctor’s appointment can be a formidable event, sometimes scary, sometimes anxiety provoking and sometimes enjoyable for different patients. No doubt, every patient would like his or her complaint fully addressed with the doctor taking out time to explain the proposed management and any concerns raised by the patient.

In today’s fast paced world, it might be a luxury to have an uninterrupted 30minutes with your doctor. It will be a stretch of one’s imagination to picture a General hospital in Nigeria where a patient will stay 30 minutes with the doctor and be giggling. The reasons for this are not far fetched

Why Clinic times are getting shorter

1. Sheer number of out patients: A typical outpatient clinic on a given day can have about 100 patients. These patients are spread among available doctors. The more patients to see one doctor, the less the time spent on each patient
2. Declining number of doctors: in Nigeria, the Japa phenomenon has shown its impact in our general and teaching hospitals. The doctor to patient ratio is currently about 1 doctor to 9000 patients as against 1 to 600. The few available doctors are sometimes high strung and irritable. This becomes worse when there is only one specialist in a particular field to see the vast number of patients.
3. Burn out among doctors: There are many reasons doctors may experience burn out and be unable to give their best to their patients. These include poor work life balance, increasing workload, inadequate remuneration, poor working environment etc
4. Impatient patients: Patients are not the most patient people in the world, and definitely not the Nigerian patient. Every patient feels his own complaint is the most urgent and would breathe down the neck of any doctor that takes too long with another patient.
5. Electronic Medical Records: Most modern hospitals have to record patient data into the computer system before the next patient is seen. This can be tedious for some doctors and takes away quality interaction time with their patients.

The days of spending quality time with your doctor may well be over except in special circumstances like doctors practicing in rural areas or special private appointments.

However, despite the demands of modern times, the basic tenets on which medical practice is founded should not be sacrificed. These include empathy, confidentiality, compassion and effective communication.