My Take | What one public doctor thinks about the Hong Kong medics’ strike
- Hospitals and the community at large, this senior doctor believes, need to stay alert but not be alarmed; unfortunately, the strike is causing more fear and havoc within the system than justified
It has been easier to lose friends than to keep them in the past eight months. And I don’t mean “unfriending” people on Facebook. Political differences are enough to end a friendship that has lasted more than half a lifetime.
My friend supports restricting the cross-border movements of people. However, he is angry at a minority of his colleagues for taking industrial action – worse, for pressuring others to join them.
A senior specialist at a leading public hospital, he thinks of his job as apolitical. It’s all about taking care of patients while protecting your own health by minimising risks.
“By risk, I mean something that is imminent and quantifiable,” the good doctor said. This means taking precautions in an emerging epidemic.
“I am not an epidemiologist but we are trained on how to deal with an outbreak and protocols to activate in our hospitals in such an eventuality,” he said.