Status is not a tool for intimidation

A recent incident in which a public representative took their young daughter to an emergency room and loudly berated medical staff has sparked outrage in the medical community. Behind the confrontation lies a longstanding workplace dilemma in the medical field — the unrealistic expectation that healthcare workers should exhibit unlimited tolerance and understanding.

During peak election season or periods of overcrowding in emergency departments, politicians always pay lip service to the vital importance and hardworking nature of healthcare workers. Yet whether someone truly respects the medical profession is often clearest when they or a family member falls ill. While it is entirely understandable for parents to feel extremely anxious when their children are sick, everyone in an emergency department is grappling with their own anxieties and fears. A largely empty emergency room waiting area does not mean that medical staff are not tending to critically ill patients. A doctor’s repeated verification of medications, dosages and administration methods is an essential part of ensuring patient safety.

New regulations on workplace misconduct that took effect in July explicitly require employers to establish mechanisms for filing complaints, conducting investigations and protecting employees. The Medical Care Act (醫療法) has also long prohibited the obstruction of medical services through violence, coercion, public insult or other unlawful means. For years, healthcare settings have placed excessive emphasis on asking frontline workers to “understand the emotions of patients’ families,” but, this “understanding” has devolved into a justification for demanding that healthcare staff unconditionally endure verbal abuse and even humiliation.

Elected representatives wield considerable social resources, powerful public voices and political influence. Even without explicitly invoking their titles, the psychological pressure they exert when they raise their voices at frontline medical workers is far greater than that imposed by ordinary members of the public.

Respect for medical professionals should not merely be a campaign slogan for politicians. Before demanding that the government improve the medical workplace environment or calling on society to treat healthcare workers better, politicians should bear in mind that, upon entering a hospital, they are simply another participant in the medical system. Neither power nor status should be used as a tool to intimidate or oppress frontline healthcare workers.

Lu Chun-wei is a dermatologist and assistant professor at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.