Analyzing the Clinical Encounters Between Doctors and Patients in Public Hospitals

The main purpose behind this study was to explore the hurdles and misunderstandings in clinical oral communication encounters along with the factors that affect these hurdles. The government hospitals in Pakistan are dealing with uncountable number of patients and to estimate the prevailing norms in these hospitals, the data was collected from ten doctors and eight patients using the semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was done to collect data to address the research questions. The findings of this research unveil different factors that cause communication barriers. For example, the participants mention styles of speaking of doctors with patients, the noise, the behavioral issues of the participants and the ignorance from the authorities etc. It is evident that participants from both sides; patients and doctors, mention many same issues with different points of view but several issues are agreed by both sides. Several factors are found that serve as barrier to providing proper treatment for patients, but the most important one is the negligence of government and authorities as they neither provide funds nor play their role in managing human or material resources. The haphazard appointment of doctors to far off areas where their dialect is different from the patients is another factor agreed on by the participants. The research suggests sincere action from government and authorities, loyal efforts of the doctors and the respectful cooperation of the patients to deal with the issue of impediments in oral communications in clinical encounters. This work aims at spreading awareness of hindrance-free communication for a smoother delivery of medication and other treatments such as dieting, exercising or surgery etc. It is seen that the communication gap is creating serious problems, and this issue should be addressed on priority.