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I have a friend in healthcare management. They have a manual of corporate philosophy. In there they explicitly advise, "never admit fault". Which makes sense

I have a friend in healthcare management. They have a manual of corporate philosophy. In there they explicitly advise, "never admit fault". Which makes sense from a business, legalistic warfare perspective. $>truth after all. Maybe our corporate philosophy is leaking into our common philosophy.

DanBC 7y ago
> They have a manual of corporate philosophy. > In there they explicitly advise, "never admit fault". It's interesting to compare that advice with the advice to healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations in the UK. Telling the truth when things go wrong, even if that means admitting fault, is the law. They must do it. They have to say what went wrong, how it went wrong, what they're going to do to fix it for you, and how they're going to prevent it happening to other people in future. Here's some information from the CQC (the regulator of organisations) about Duty of Candour: https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Duty-of-Candour-2016-CQC-joint-branded.pdf https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Duty-of-Candour-2... The GMC (doctors), NMC (nurses and midwives), and HCPC (allied health professionals) have similar advice aimed at healthcare staff. This came about after the Mid Staffordshire scandal. I put together a short list last year: https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-saying-sorry-95701cfe9ea7 https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-s...
- swayvil 7y ago
  That's an interesting contrast. Black and white even. No doubt blame tends to run in a single direction, in that business.
matheusmoreira 7y ago
Doctors are human beings. They make mistakes like every other person. The healthcare system makes them work extremely long hours, so mistakes become even more likely. Doctors aren't supposed to be mere humans, though. They're supposed to be infallible godlike beings who know everything and do everything right every single time. They have to look like they know everything otherwise they'll lose the respect of their colleagues and even their patients. Even something simple like a procedure checklist improves patient safety but people are resistant because it could be viewed as a sign of weakness. I know one professor who was openly mocked by patients in front of her staff because she brought reference books with her to the hospital. Since they usually make a lot of money, they are attractive targets for litigation. If they make a mistake, they could be personally sued for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is it any wonder concepts like defensive medicine exist?
mark-r 7y ago
I once heard that doctors are trained to yell "there!" instead of "oops" or something similar. The idea is to always project confidence even when you know you made a mistake. Don't know if there's any truth to it, but it sounds plausible.

DanBC 7y ago

> They have a manual of corporate philosophy. > In there they explicitly advise, "never admit fault". It's interesting to compare that advice with the advice to healthcare professionals and healthcare organisations in the UK. Telling the truth when things go wrong, even if that means admitting fault, is the law. They must do it. They have to say what went wrong, how it went wrong, what they're going to do to fix it for you, and how they're going to prevent it happening to other people in future. Here's some information from the CQC (the regulator of organisations) about Duty of Candour: https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Duty-of-Candour-2016-CQC-joint-branded.pdf https://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/Duty-of-Candour-2... The GMC (doctors), NMC (nurses and midwives), and HCPC (allied health professionals) have similar advice aimed at healthcare staff. This came about after the Mid Staffordshire scandal. I put together a short list last year: https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-saying-sorry-95701cfe9ea7 https://medium.com/@dan.bealecocks/advice-to-doctors-about-s...

swayvil 7y ago
That's an interesting contrast. Black and white even. No doubt blame tends to run in a single direction, in that business.

matheusmoreira 7y ago

Doctors are human beings. They make mistakes like every other person. The healthcare system makes them work extremely long hours, so mistakes become even more likely. Doctors aren't supposed to be mere humans, though. They're supposed to be infallible godlike beings who know everything and do everything right every single time. They have to look like they know everything otherwise they'll lose the respect of their colleagues and even their patients. Even something simple like a procedure checklist improves patient safety but people are resistant because it could be viewed as a sign of weakness. I know one professor who was openly mocked by patients in front of her staff because she brought reference books with her to the hospital. Since they usually make a lot of money, they are attractive targets for litigation. If they make a mistake, they could be personally sued for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Is it any wonder concepts like defensive medicine exist?

mark-r 7y ago

I once heard that doctors are trained to yell "there!" instead of "oops" or something similar. The idea is to always project confidence even when you know you made a mistake. Don't know if there's any truth to it, but it sounds plausible.