Dissecting CPA awareness: PGIMER doctors fare poorly

At a time when awareness has become a useful tool of empowerment,PGI doctors,who otherwise advocate awareness as a preventive measure among patients and the general public on various diseases and health issues,seem to be unaware of its benefits.

At least,a study done by the institute doctors revealed that the PGI doctors scored low when it came to awareness about the Consumer Protection Act as compared to two other government hospitals and one private hospital in the city.

Interestingly,it was found that the younger lot of doctors had more knowledge and awareness about the Act and its implications than the older ones.

In a recently conducted study entitled “To assess the awareness among doctors about Consumer Protection Act in selected hospitals of Chandigarh”,the Department of Hospital Administration,PGIMER,found that the most aware doctors were from the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital,Sector 16 who scored a mean score of 71 per cent,followed by INSCOL Hospital,Sector 34,which scored 68 per cent,followed by PGIMER,GMCH 32 and dispensary doctors under the UT Health Department,which scored a 63 per cent.

Further,it was found that the private consultants had the highest score,indicating high levels of awareness about the CPA,i.e. 71 per cent,followed by medical officers who scored 69 per cent followed by associate professors who scored 57 per cent.

The study revealed that the respondents in the age group of 31-40 years had significantly higher knowledge than those who were in the age group of more than 50 years.

In designation-wise analysis,medical officers had significantly higher knowledge than professors.

Incidentally,on a scale of perception about implications of the CPA,the study revealed that 68 per cent doctors agreed that CPA forces the doctors to communicate better with the patients,35 per cent of the doctors agreed that CPA hampers the doctors from giving their best to the patients out of fear of unwanted litigation and huge compensation.

As per the researchers,the study was done among the doctors of Chandigarh across government and private institutions to map their knowledge and perception about the Act.

It was found that the average mean knowledge score of the respondents was 63 per cent which can be associated with the age and experience and can also be associated with the job profile.

The study stated that the analysis of the data supported the hypothesis that those directly responsible for patient care know more about the Consumer Protection Act.