I know multiple stories from just my family of people who only got adequate help through persistence of their family member or significant other.

Though I am from Poland and I don't consider Poland to have adequate medical system.

When you are really bad you may not be able to explain to medical staff what is going on. There are cases in life threatening condition that are misdiagnosed as drunk. You need a family member to tell the medical staff that no, they are absolutely positively sure you are not drunk.

That kinda talk is exactly why the parent holds that sentiment. I get that to a doctor you're being evaluated against a statistic, but as a patient I'm obviously invested in my particular circumstances.

Not blaming anyone, but nobody feels reassured being treated that way.

Do you have a source for this?

From my experiences, healthcare advice is designed for the most likely scenario given an imaginary average person- and it is incredibly important to take an active role in conversations with medical professionals (I suppose unless you happen to be perfectly average in every way and experiencing the most likely ailment given your description).

That's quite a claim to make without any evidence to back it up. I don't think you have any idea what you're talking about.

If you had ever accompanied someone with a serious condition, you would probably think differently.

I don't have that much experience in this area, yet I've personally witnessed several occasions when family advocating for a patient saved their life.

And, sadly, vice versa as well.

This is in the U.S, in major cities, in hospitals that were recommended as being above average by those in the know (medical professionals and other patients.)

I call bullshit. I have more children than average and during every single labor & delivery I've caught paperwork problems and mistakes in communication while my wife was too distracted to pay attention to such things herself. All minor, but given the option I would always want an advocate on my wide who is purely there for my own benefit and who isn't experiencing a major medical problem at the time.

I doubt it. My son would very likely have had permanent damage to some of his internal organs while in the NICU had I not insisted on a second look at a diagnosis after the physician ruled it based on a checklist cross-indexed with age because "it's impossible."

And that was just one instance among many where me and my wife were the best--and most accurate--advocates for our son's care.

It's not that doctor's are dumb or uncaring: they're simply stretched thin and feel they have to play by restrictive rules put in place to help prevent lawsuits.

It is absolutely crucial, in my opinion, to have someone who truly cares about you accompany you if you must go into a hospital for any reason.

From people I know in healthcare it is very common for people to catch healthcare provider mistakes ranging from troubling to terrifying.

It absolutely needs to be a collaboration whenever possible.

Definitely - they just reacted exactly as they have been trained to do.