Clinic assistants tell of abuse from patients, some GPs say they could be better protected
People queueing at the reception counter of a private clinic in a housing estate.
SINGAPORE — In her decade-long experience working as a clinic assistant, Ms Zuraiza Samad, 37, has lost her temper just once after getting berated by a patient.
The patient demanded that the dentist carry out a treatment he wanted and got upset when Ms Zuraiza tried to explain why it cannot be done. He also got annoyed when she suggested that he approach another dentist for a second opinion if he wanted one.
Ms Zuraiza said: “I was irritated but I tried to control my tone when speaking to him. Then, when he started shouting and banging on the counter, I shouted back at him.”
Ms Zuraiza is not alone in her experience of attending to difficult patients and losing her cool in the process.
Earlier this week, a viral video uploaded on TikTok, showed an employee of Everhealth Family Clinic & Surgery, located at Le Quest mall in Bukit Batok, kicking a pram and shouting at a mother and her son.
Clinic and nurse assistants interviewed by TODAY said that such confrontational incidents involving physical retaliation are rare.
More commonly, they are subjected to verbal abuse instead. This is especially exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has increased the frequency of such abuse.
