A SURVEY of attitudes to the campus Health Centre recently published by YUSU has found that students “often feel mistreated by medical practitioners,” with almost a third of the students asked rating their overall experience of the Health Centre as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
Responses collected in 2009 reported Health Centre practitioners occasionally “ignoring or counteracting other medical advice… sometimes resulting in misdiagnoses and problems remaining untreated.” It was highlighted that one doctor in particular “received exceptionally poor feedback.”
Almost half of the 371 people surveyed believed concerns were not taken seriously during their appointment. Nevertheless, some individual staff members were given a, “great deal of positive feedback.”
The findings – to be released today after over 6 months of research – were conducted by YUSU and “raise[d] serious questions about the interactions between staff and students.”
Particularly scrutinised was the “serious failing” of the Health Centre to address the “consistent and strongly negative” feedback given by students with mental health problems.
One of the personal comments included in the report says “[I was] belittled and told that I wasn’t a ‘serious’ case because my chosen method of attempted suicide didn’t fit into their pre-conceptions of how someone might try to kill themselves.”
A “clearly more negative” appraisal of the Health Centre was given by LGBT students, than by the overall student profile. The report noted a sizeable proportion of LGBT-specific issues were dealt with insensitively, according to students. One commented, “Dr ‘X’ seemed more interested in my sexuality, not the subject in hand.”
According to the report, these issues are evidence of ‘studentification,’ where staff assume all their patients fit the stereotypical student profile of home undergraduate student with a specific background, something which has alienated students.
The report recommends that more doctors are taken on. The Health Centre has since acknowledged that the five-day waiting time experienced by 39% is “inexcusable”. It has expanded the number of staff members and trialled a new ‘faster access’ service during the report’s draft period.
A Health Centre spokesperson told Vision that staff were using the findings to make “positive changes” such as increasing manpower, improving wait times and furthering their efforts to protect student confidentiality. In response to specific allegations of insensitivity Vision were told,
“We have already taken steps to consider this. Feedback and discussion are key to improving our relationships with our patients.”
Laura Borisovaite was contacted for a comment but could not be reached.