One Patient, One Attendant: An Overlooked Necessity for Better Patient Care in Pakistan’s Tertiary Care Hospitals

Abstract

Massive footfall of patients in tertiary care hospitals across Pakistan has become a chronic challenge. These hospitals are overwhelmed not only by patients but also by large groups of attendants accompanying each patient, turning wards into congested, chaotic spaces compromising patient care. An article of DAWN mentions about Non-cooperative behaviour of attendants, who insisted on staying with their patients, also contributed to the overcrowding (1). Although, “one patient, one attendant” policies are being displayed in most of the wards, but enforcement of this very policy remains almost nonexistent. Most patients are accompanied by several attendants who crowd the bedside, restrict staff movement, and interfere during rounds and procedures.

One of the major precipitating factor in Pakistani doctors’ burnout and over exhaustion in an already over worked environment is the unwarranted and unnecessary presence of a patient’s attendants in, sometimes, a critical life threatening scenario where either you manage the attendants or save a life. Such encounters lead to arguments, delays, and sometimes violence (2), further highlighting the urgent need for strict policy enforcement. The influx of unnecessary attendants disrupts doctors’ and nurses’ workflow, increases infection risk and compromises patient privacy and adds to hospital waste and resource strain.