Muristek
As millions flee Ukraine we must help refugees navigate Australia’s labyrinthine health system | Ranjana Srivastava
A patient’s immigration status can make every step of hospitalisation harder than it needs to be
Years ago, when a young doctor admitted that she had found the previous week very troubling, I readily conceded my own conflict. We were caring for a stressed patient whose children had been separated from her during a marital breakup. She was eager to attend her long-awaited court case because she thought it would clarify the next steps, but the many people involved in her care had many different ideas about what should happen. Her interpreter who also understood the cultural nuances, made almost heroic attempts at advocacy but in the end, the day of court came and went, and the patient’s distress was multiplied by a lack of resolution about the most vital aspect of her life.
My abiding memory of that event was that the patient’s refugee status made every step of her hospitalisation harder than it needed to be. Another patient in her place would most likely have walked out and abused us on the way but the refugee patient was diminutive in every sense of the word.
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