Should patients be allowed to discriminate?

[Utceforp]

They're not capable of making good decisions if those decisions are based on racism.

Capacity has nothing to do with how good or bad the decision made is. Its related to the ability to take in, retain, weigh up and communicate information. Bigotry doesn't inhibit those.

Please for your own legal safety never try first aid for reals.

So you would prefer to let them die because of their racism?

[Geilinor]

Genital surgery is rare.

What the fuck are you on about?

Whether or not discriminating against doctors based on their sexuality should be allowed and when it should be acceptable.

[Fionnuala_Saoirse]

Capacity has nothing to do with how good or bad the decision made is. Its related to the ability to take in, retain, weigh up and communicate information. Bigotry doesn't inhibit those.

Please for your own legal safety never try first aid for reals.

So you would prefer to let them die because of their racism?

I'd happily wait for them to either realise the error of their ways or lose capacity at which point they will be treated by the appropriately qualified individual.

[Nazi Flower Power]

They should be able to request whatever they want, and if someone is available that meets their criteria, then the patient should be accommodated. If there doesn't happen to be a doctor or nurse of the requested gender or ethnicity, then they'll just have to make do with whoever is available.

The NHS should not go out of its way to prepare for such requests, just accommodate them when it's simple to do so.

[Quackquackhonk]

Patients should have the ability to decide who their health care provider is, if that decision is reached based on discrimination, that's their business.

...because?

[Quackquackhonk]

Should patients be able to discriminate in their choice of healthcare professionals?

...no?

[Mike the Progressive]

Should patients be able to discriminate in their choice of healthcare professionals?

...no?

Yeah, hasn't anybody seen Grey's anatomy? I mean i personally havent. ok i watched like 4-5 episodes of the first season before i felt the urge to climb the space needle and jump. but i resisted. the point is... actually im not too sure of what the point is.

[Mkuki]

Whatsp are your thoughts though? Should patients be able to discriminate in their choice of healthcare professionals?

My opinion is both for or against. In any normal situation, yes, I think the patient should have the choice to discriminate. Say you're a mother, or father, and you bring your kid, Suzie, to a pediatrician for the annual checkup. You should have the right to say "I prefer Dr. Hera Volch, over Dr. Norman Richter, to check Suzie because she's a woman." In this type of case the hospital, clinic, whatever should be legally required to follow your request if said person is available. However, if it's a life-death/emergency room situation, your ability to discriminate gets thrown out of the window and into a trash can. The hospital has a duty to save as many lives as possible.

[Reploid Productions]

Whatsp are your thoughts though? Should patients be able to discriminate in their choice of healthcare professionals?

My opinion is both for or against. In any normal situation, yes, I think the patient should have the choice to discriminate. Say you're a mother, or father, and you bring your kid, Suzie, to a pediatrician for the annual checkup. You should have the right to say "I prefer Dr. Hera Volch, over Dr. Norman Richter, to check Suzie because she's a woman." In this type of case the hospital, clinic, whatever should be legally required to follow your request if said person is available. However, if it's a life-death/emergency room situation, your ability to discriminate gets thrown out of the window and into a trash can. The hospital has a duty to save as many lives as possible.

This is pretty much my take on it. Where it is possible to reasonably accommodate someone, sure. If it is an emergency and the only qualified professional available is of an undesired race/gender/religion/what-have-you, then tough cookies.

[Page]

I am a male, and in terms of general healthcare, I really couldn't give a shit. If I pull a muscle I don't care who's the person writing my Vicodin scrip. Hell, I'd even let a female doctor tell me what's wrong with my dick (there's nothing wrong with it, this is a hypothetical), I would be totally unfazed.

But I must admit to a certain bias of mine, that in terms of mental healthcare, whether psychiatry or therapy, I would always prefer to talk to a woman. It's just a matter of comfort for me and I can't explain it or justify it, but it's just the way I feel. That is not to say there aren't plenty of wonderful male mental health practitioners out there who are everything their patients of any gender would want, there are - I'm just expressing my own weird hang-up.

[Nazi Flower Power]

I am a male, and in terms of general healthcare, I really couldn't give a shit. If I pull a muscle I don't care who's the person writing my Vicodin scrip. Hell, I'd even let a female doctor tell me what's wrong with my dick (there's nothing wrong with it, this is a hypothetical), I would be totally unfazed.

But I must admit to a certain bias of mine, that in terms of mental healthcare, whether psychiatry or therapy, I would always prefer to talk to a woman. It's just a matter of comfort for me and I can't explain it or justify it, but it's just the way I feel. That is not to say there aren't plenty of wonderful male mental health practitioners out there who are everything their patients of any gender would want, there are - I'm just expressing my own weird hang-up.

Probably the tone of their voice makes it more soothing to talk to a woman. Also, if they're smaller or have softer facial features they look less intimidating.

Things like tone of voice and physical appearance trigger instinctive emotional reactions that have nothing to do with how the person is doing their job.

[Cetacea]

Yes, if the health providers have the same right to discriminate

I do recall having to get my scrotum checked for a rash once, I was relieved that I got the female GP rather than the male one. Does that count as homophobic?

[Reploid Productions]

Plus, who you go to for psychiatric/psychological treatment isn't as likely to be an emergency decision, either; you have the time and option of researching and deciding specifically who you wish seek out for treatment. Somebody hauled into an ER with a time-critical injury or situation isn't going to really have that luxury.

[Luziyca]

No, it doesn't matter what sexuality, ethnicity or gender the health provider is. Nobody should be picky when it comes to healthcare, they are lucky they are even being treated. In some countries, it would cost them.

If I don't want a black man to treat me, I should be able to pick a different doctor. It's not about luck, or privilege-- it's about personal preference. Nobody should just feel lucky just being treated because doctor's are WRONG more often than not, when diagnosing illnesses and what not. Getting a second opinion is important and if you value an Asian doctor's advice over an Indian doctor's, there shouldn't be an issue.

Both are Asian.

[Des-Bal]

Yes.

Yes, if the health providers have the same right to discriminate

I do recall having to get my scrotum checked for a rash once, I was relieved that I got the female GP rather than the male one. Does that count as homophobic?

Having a lady examine your scrotum rash is really just as awkward as if it were a fella.

[Pengaroo]

I think it'd be kind of hard to distinguish "acceptable" discrimination from unacceptable discrimination. Someone mentioned earlier that if a person is beaten by a black person it's probably unwise for the patients' mental health to let a black doctor treat them; is that necessarily racist? Do we blame them for having a visually associated discomfort for a (if not completely logical) reason? If not, how do you distinguish that in a reasonable amount of time from simply being bigoted?

On top of that I believe there are special cases, psychiatry is mentioned up above. I agree that in general ethnicity, gender, etc. shouldn't matter when deciding healthcare providers, but in my case, seeing a gynecologist, I'd just as soon they be female. Does that make me prejudiced? .. Maybe so, I've no logical grounds for the preference, I'm sure they're equally qualified, but one makes me feel better and the other doesn't, which is important.

[Margno]

Definitely do what the patient wants wherever possible, but to me the hard question is: If the only doctor working that day is black, a patient refuses to be served by any black person, the patient is at the point of death, and the doctor thinks he can save him, should he do it? To put it generally, it's "is it okay to do good things for people against their will?"
This was a really tough one for me. On the one hand I guess I think that healing is not violence, even if it's non consensual. But on the other hand, it's still putting the doctor's judgement over the wishes of the patient, which is morally ungroovy.
When I think it through, though, I feel like I would ultimately prefer that a doctor insist upon saving my life even if I didn't want him to at the time. I'm wrong about lots of stuff. It's entirely possible I could be wrong about one more thing. If people waited for me to want the right things before helping me, I'd be screwed.
tl;dr yes if it doesn't hurt them, otherwise no.

[Seriong]

They feel more comfortable, and are already paying through some means to be there. Doesn't bother me.

Although, the requesting certain sexualities boggles me, how could they know, other than just being told? In such a case, one could easily lie.

Edit: How can you possibly know what their reason is for wanting a different doctor? To try to work against this choice, would have the only option of not allowing people to choose their doctor, a truly bad thing to do. As well, people need to feel some amount of comfort with their doctor, and if that means they need them to not have tattoos, have short hair, or be Asian, I don't see the issue.

[Page]

I am a male, and in terms of general healthcare, I really couldn't give a shit. If I pull a muscle I don't care who's the person writing my Vicodin scrip. Hell, I'd even let a female doctor tell me what's wrong with my dick (there's nothing wrong with it, this is a hypothetical), I would be totally unfazed.

But I must admit to a certain bias of mine, that in terms of mental healthcare, whether psychiatry or therapy, I would always prefer to talk to a woman. It's just a matter of comfort for me and I can't explain it or justify it, but it's just the way I feel. That is not to say there aren't plenty of wonderful male mental health practitioners out there who are everything their patients of any gender would want, there are - I'm just expressing my own weird hang-up.

Probably the tone of their voice makes it more soothing to talk to a woman. Also, if they're smaller or have softer facial features they look less intimidating.

Things like tone of voice and physical appearance trigger instinctive emotional reactions that have nothing to do with how the person is doing their job.

True. Better explanation than Freudian mother issues or something, lol.

[Baader-Meinhof Gruppe]

For NHS and other public opion healthcare no, for private "Americanized" healthcare yes. If everyone pays for it then it's not your choice what you get. If you want to pay for everything yourself then be as racist and bigoted as you want.

[The Black Forrest]

It's one thing if a patient needs help and doesn't want the *racial epithet* touching him versus a doctor refusing to help the homosexual (a topic of the US these days).

As long as the hospital has procedures in place to protect themselves from the patients stupidity; is it really an issue?

[Fionnuala_Saoirse]

It's one thing if a patient needs help and doesn't want the *racial epithet* touching him versus a doctor refusing to help the homosexual (a topic of the US these days).

As long as the hospital has procedures in place to protect themselves from the patients stupidity; is it really an issue?

The procedure in most hospitals is that the staff protect themselves from the patients stupidity by refusing to accommodate the bigoted requests. Staff have a right to work in an environment in which they are not discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, etc fortunately.

[AiliailiA]

I think yes. On the basis of gender certainly.

However, if I was the triage nurse who makes the decision I might do some quiet discrimination of my own. You don't want Dr. Wikramasingh 'cos she's a "Paki"? You can have Dr. White who's 72 and known for dropping scalpels.

[Hyosong]

In a hospital setting? On the basis of race, gender, sexuality, religion?

No.

[Nazi Flower Power]

In a hospital setting? On the basis of race, gender, sexuality, religion?

No.

What about on the basis of other irrelevant crap? Like can I demand to be seen by a fellow Nazi? Or can I discriminate on the basis of weight?

But seriously, I don't see why it should not be up to the patient. They are the ones whose health is on the line if treatment gets delayed by their racist bullshit.

You're allowed to discriminate against providers of other services. Don't want to buy your groceries from a dirty Kraut? Don't want a massage from a dude? Absolutely have to have a Korean hairstylist cos you don't trust anybody else to cut your hair? No problem; you are free to discriminate.

NHS should not discriminate in hiring doctors and should not worry about the selection of races and genders available at any given clinic, but why should patients not be allowed to state their preferences? And why should the clinic not accommodate them when it's simple to do so? Depending on what you have done, there can be quite a lot of physical contact, so it's not surprising if people have preferences regarding gender. What if the patient is a rape victim trying to avoid triggers that will bring back memories of their rape?