(9 Sept ’12)
An aunt was admitted
into the general ward with an ailment that had made her non-ambulatory. I
expected a dirtier ward. The person doing the sweeping did her job when she had
to and, on being told where and how to reach the crevices, didn’t mind being told.
That was one of the many pleasant surprises.
The bathrooms were not
as yucky as many I’ve seen in Goa. In spite of patients and visitors going in
and out several times each quarter of an hour. What is it that makes everyone
go in there so often? Is this the frequency one follows at home? Having little
else to do after reading my own and a borrowed newspaper three times each, I
kept a log of entries and exits to the loo. Also noted that for some reason we
Indians love to make loos wet, that sprinkling white sweet-smelling fluid all
over is considered ‘cleaning’ and that the overflowing garbage should be
strictly segregated: this is a good place to educate the public.
But: it was cleaner than some loos I’ve seen in people’s homes. The staff is
taking some effort, for sure.
The nurses were
monitoring who was taking what medication. In private hospitals in Goa, the
‘nurses’ are unqualified girls in discoloured ex-white dresses. Here, they were
behaving like the professionals they were.
The problem lay with bed-ridden patients who didn’t have relatives to
help with bed-pans (for example when a son-in-law was ‘on duty’ or a
brother-in-law). I agree that relatives must help with chores and be
responsible companions, but the hospital must have quick help at hand when
Nature calls. Once a sheet and clothes are spoiled/soiled, it takes a lot of
time, effort and discomfort (for the patient as well as the carers) to change
the linen/clothes. The lowliest of jobs are also the most essential. If there
were staff on duty to give the pans, they weren’t to be found. This was a
women’s ward, and there was a male staff posted there to give pans. Not ideal.
On a floor below was
the transplant wing. I wonder how many Goans take pride in it. It takes a
highly skilled team to carry out a transplant. It’s not about the surgeon
alone. There is the nephrologist who must balance the medicines, the
anaesthetists who must monitor what’s happening when the recipient is under
his/her care whilst ‘sleeping’ in the Operation Theatre, the nurses who must be
very, very careful about infection control, the dieticians who must ensure that
the patient is careful about nutrition, the technicians and laboratory staff
who must generate error-free reports. My salaams to the transplant people. Specially
the donors. Am waiting for Goa to start a cadaver program.
I overheard the
“Diabetic Sister” (could she have a better name, please?) educating a
neighbouring patient. Brilliant. We need more like her and in all departments.
Dr Savita P was/is a
good example of how doctors must communicate with patients. She explained the
condition, the whys and hows of the medicines and the dosages carefully and
simply. Youngsters, interns like Shane R (who was in such a foul mood when she
came to collect blood that I wondered whether the tone and expression was in
her genes or that she’d just had a bad morning) must learn how to be gentle as
well as clever. Right from first MBBS future consultants must be taught good
manners; they must know that they must respect patients if they are to be
successful physicians.
The security persons
were firm but gentle. The people at that time in the general ward seemed to be
a law-abiding lot, for there weren’t any quarrels over visitors’ presence
outside the permitted hours. Perhaps at other times it isn’t so, my audit
sample isn’t sufficient to comment.
No doubt the GMC has a
long way to go but it’s doing a good job. Struggling with the kind of logistics
it is faced with, I’d say it’s amongst the better general, teaching hospitals
in the country. Mr Parrikar, get the Health Minister to make it a good tertiary
care centre. Let the primary and secondary care centres do their job and GMC be
a catchment centre. Right now, it functions as an all-in-one. It’s time we gave
it the respect it deserves. And a helping hand, too, where and when required…
like to have clean, fresh linen, hygienic food in the cafeteria and most
important of all, CORRECT DISPOSAL OF
BIO-MEDICAL AND OTHER WASTE.
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