Kumar Kush
Recently, we lost the youngest member of our family, who met with an accident, probably thanks to poor administration and lack of most important facilities in the biggest hospital of the State, the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu. The patient was carried to GMC with in 10 minutes of the accident.
First up, the Hospital denied to admit the patient, who was bleeding profusely from the head, without preparing a Patient Card. Waiting in the line wasted about another crucial 5 minutes.
Secondly, there was no stretcher readily available at the entrance of the Surgery Department.
Thirdly, as I have seen in other hospitals also, the patient was put on the stretcher like a sack by the Hospital staff, one holding the legs of the patient and another holding the arms, which in most accident cases, leads to further damage to the arms, legs and most importantly, the spinal cord.
Fourth, the patient was shifted from stretcher to the bed, again like a sack. God knows, how much damage that may have caused the patient.
Fifth, there was no experienced surgeon, capable of handling such cases, on duty. The case was handed over the junior doctors, may be some of them being PG students.
Sixth, the Emergency Ward of the Hospital lacked at least two most important equipment I can think of – Life Support System (LSS) and Ventilator. That is an absolute shame on the part of the Hospital. The patient was being given Oxygen with manual pumps.
Ultimately, after 6 hours of efforts by the doctors, God knows sincere or not, the patient breathed her last, leaving a question mark on the credibility of the Hospital and its staff. These facilities are available at big and private hospitals of the Country, but everyone cannot afford their treatment.
Unsurprisingly, ours is not the first case like this case. Numerous patients must be losing their lives every year in the GMC and other hospitals in the State due to lack of poor administration, lack of facilities and lack of experienced staff. Out of them, many precious lives could be saved, provided the hospitals had facilities, and qualified and experienced staff.
In another case, few days before the above case, the father of my neighbour was admitted to GMC late in the night, as his condition deteriorated. The doctors recommended X-Ray, Ultra-sound and CAT Scan. Shamefully, there were no operators of X-Ray and Ultra-sound, who as per other staff of the Radiology Department, could be available in the morning only. And, as per the Radiology Department staff, the CAT Scan was out-of-order for several days.
In yet another case, again in the same month, an immediate next door of mine, was hit badly by an auto-rickshaw, who instead of carrying the injured to a hospital fled from the spot, and is still at-large. Someone took the mobile phone of the victim and called one of his family members. Till the victim’s family members arrived at the accident spot, no one dared carrying him to hospital, who kept laying at the road for about 15 minutes. This happens everywhere in the Country. This is because, people are afraid that the police will book them if they find them with the victim. And there actually have been hundreds of cases, where the police has accused the person carrying the patient of accident. Anyways, the patient was shifted to GMC. Shockingly, the doctors, at very first look said that the patient, who definitely was in a very bad condition, cannot be saved and it is not worth carrying out the treatment. The patient was transported to a well-known private hospital in the City, but they refused to accept the case. Then, the patient was transported to another renowned private hospital in the City, who admitted the patient and started the treatment. But after four days of treatment, the patient lost his consciousness and the Hospital refused to continue the treatment further. The patient was transported to a famous hospital in Ludhiana. And within 15 days, the patient is able to speek and walk, although with support. Shame on the hospitals of the State.
Again in the beginning of September, the CAT Scan machine of the Chest Disease hospital of the City was locked by a panel of doctors, chosen by the Government, after finding out the Hospital was charging the patients, even the BPL, more than the Government prescribed rates. What could have been done was to carry out an equiry against the erring staff and let the machine being operated by other staff. Where would the poor patients go now for CAT Scans?
During the same period, a friend of mine, who works in a Government hospital, told that the Ultra-sound machine of his hospital is not working for several months. And the machine was not repaired since AMC of the machine had expired long back, and it was not renewed.
If this article seems to the readers as over-exaggerated and out-of-emotions, ask the public. Possiblly, every second person will tell you an incident where they lost their loved ones due to lack of facilities in hospitals and lack of diligence in the Hospital staff and doctors.
I request Health Minister to arrange required equipment for the hospitals and bring administrative changes in the health sector. Else, many critically injured patients will keep losing their lives, which otherwise can be saved.
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