Hi,

my wife recently went to a doctor in Lausanne and she felt she was very poorly treated not from medical point of view since she never got to explain her symptoms but from a personal point of view.

To cut a long story short she was seen by a doctor who immediately told her nothing was wrong without having examined her and whilst she was complaining about severe headaches and had pain on her left eye. He promptly dismissed this and told my wife it was nothing. When my wife asked if he could do a proper checkup he started literally yelling. My wife told him to calm down at which point he got even more upset. My wife then proceeded to leave his office and told him she will make a formal complaint to the clinic management.

I feel this is still insufficient and would like to issue a formal complaint to a "Board of Doctors" if such entity exists. Where I come from this does exist and one can issue a formal complaint which will be investigated. Does anyone know if this exists here in Switzerland?

The reason for my pursuing this is because I do feel this is very serious. Doctors take an oath to protect their patients and to care for them. This clearly did not happen.

My wife has now arranged to see another doctor but we are concerned this could be serious. Hopefully it is just a migraine....

thanks for your help

Are you THAT keen on having an experience that feels like pi**ing into the wind? Complaining against doctors here is a losing battle. If you want to remain sane and keep your energy for more important things then just move on. It really isn't worth it...

Hope your wife has a speedy recovery and a better experience second time around.

Actually YES. I've learned from experience not to take this kind s**t. And what if it is an uphill battle? Just because I am a foreigner I should be subject to ill treatment when I am sure I will receive a hefty bill from said doctor? And maybe by fighting it I may make it better for someone else - that enough would be worth it.

Knock yourself out. There was an article recently in the Aargauer Zeitung saying how difficult it was to complain about medical treatment here because ultimately all the doctors stick together.

I know at least two cases which would normally be considered malpractice but which had no consequences for the doctor in question. I applaud your determination, but feel that you should know that calling it an uphill battle is quite an understatement.

Good luck.

Oh, and by the way, being a foreigner has absolutely nothing to do with it. The same rules apply for the Swiss.

Naza I hope your wife is OK. I had similar treatment by a Doc in the US and it turned out I needed brain surgery when I was told there was nothing wrong by the initial Doc who did not even examine me and did not take my complaints seriously! I applaud your intent even if it is an uphill battle I don't know how the Swiss system works but Doctors stick together everywhere - the nature of the beast. Best of luck to you both.

Naza, which doctor did your wife visit? Has she received any treatment yet?

Did that article actually give any clue as to where to make the complaint?

I am sure your health insurance would know where to complain. Probably at the next brick wall!

I hope one of the papers goes on to highlight this with specifics. If this truly is the case then some investigative journalism is surely valid - given the seriousness of the matter and the huge proportions of income we pay in compulsory medical insurance each year. It would be a supreme case of customer exploitation since it is not like we are free to go and opt for private French, German or US medical care instead, only additionally.

I'm sorry for what your wife had to go through. As for complaining, a colleague of mine actually complained about the lack of professionalism of an OB/GYN and she actually found out after calling her insurance that the doctor had been banned from practising. I would suggest to contact your insurance provider and tell them where would you have to send a letter of formal complaint, I am sure they will take it seriously. Best ot luck!

Swiss doctors sometimes can be very rude, arrogant, and ignorant. I also had issue with 2 Dermatologists , who treated me rudly and did not recognized the health concern I had. I did not gave up , an finally I have contacted another doctor who was the best one. Good manners, sincerely interested in my health concern, and was able to treat my illness.
What was important for me was to find out about my illness, i did not care about those rude and superficial doctors. They are the way they are, and they will never put has priority the health of the patience, their priority it is only to gain money.
I hope your wife will soon find a good doctor that will help to resolve her health concern.

This has nothing to do with being foreign or not. Make a formal complaint with your insurance company and then continue your search for an appropriate doctor. Doctors are not perfect but thankfully we live in a country where there are still many good doctors, where appointments can be made quickly in case of emergencies and the overall healthcare is very good.

Hope your wife is well.

TO be fair, I have only experienced good manners and respect with any doctor I have visited here - and the ward care at UniSpital Zurich was outstanding. I guess it must be luck of the draw. If I did have a complaint, I would certainly go through my health insurance company - people always pay attention to to the people or organisation responsible for paying them!!

My experience has been that the GPs in CH just don't seem to have
time..they always seem rushed off their feet and to have a full-on
check-up(more than 5 mins) seems rather difficult.When I go 'home' I always go to our family GP who still does housecalls,takes his time and has a great 'bedside manner'.I have also had 2 GPs here who couldn't come up with a diagnosis and when I went 'home' my dr had no problem finding a diagnosis for my ailment.
Hope your wife will be okay and best of luck!!!

Hi,

thanks for the comments. Obviously we have contacted another doctor and my wife has done some exams - should know shortly.

As for the previous doctor I think going o the insurance company is certainly a good idea. I will try this route

thanks

Have a look at this website: http://www.fmh.ch/service/recht.html

I remembered this link http://www.spo.ch/ from this thread What happens when a Routine Operation goes wrong?