Women ‘unhappy’ with health care

Press, 4 March 1988, Page 1

Women ‘unhappy’ with health care

PA | j j ; Wellington People want more control over their, health and i therefore a bigger say in;the medical treatment! tb|ey receive, according to the Health (Department chief health officer; Dr Karen Poutasi. She told the Royal College of Obstetricians 'and Gynaecologists at its meeting in Wellington yesterday fhat doctors should recognise that not; only were women demanding (more say about births jbut patterns wanted to know more about what doctors were doing to them, why,. and what the side-effects might be. Natural versus hi-tech births was not the issue; I rather it was the relationship between doctors

and patients, including patient demand for more information. Women) particularly were dissatisfied (with the health care they were getting, Dr Poutasi said. A recent "Medical Journal” survey had' (found that 73 per cent of women were unhappy, about the health service. Traditionally, doctors decided what to tell and what not to tell patients. I I ( T ! But in' Canada and Australia the position pad changed to such an extent that doctors were now requires! to give patients enough information |to make their own decisions about any health risks. This position was backed up by the courts.! | !