When a patient......be patient !

Last week my son went thru a minor surgery at a local hospital. The surgeon was referred by our child's pediatrician, whom we truly trust and like. After discussing with the surgeon, we decided to have the operation at the hospital which was very good and close to where we live. However, this was not one of those big hospitals yet it was a hospital where my wife delivered my son a few years back and we were quite pleased with the facility and the docs during that period.

Coming back to this surgery, on the day of the operation we reached the hospital on the dot at 7am as told to by the doc. I can't seem to understand why do docs call a patient to the hospital an hour in advance on an empty stomach. It becomes very uncomforting for a small kid to keep hungry added to the fear of having to undergo a surgery soon. Anyways, this problem pales in comparison to what all of us had to go thru later on.

As the time for the surgery came closer, a couple of assistant docs came to the room asking to bring the patient to the operation theatre. They wanted to take him themselves but looking at our teary eyed boy we just had to accompany him to the room adjacent to the theatre. However from there he had to go in alone as the docs very sternly refused any one of us to get in the theatre with him. It was extremely difficult for us to see our son being 'taken away' from us. He cried and so did we.

We waited with bated breath outside the theatre for the operation to finish. After about half an hour one of the docs came out and informed us that the operation was over and everything was fine. This was very relieving. As parents, even when you are absolutely sure that there is no chance for anything to go wrong, you are still very tensed hoping that your son is fine.

After a few minutes, our son was brought out of the theatre. He was on a stretcher covered with a thin sheet, dazed and shivering. This sight will not be easily forgotten by us for a long long time. Are the doctors and their assistants blind ? Can't they see that the boy needs a thicker sheet ? Couldn't they have reduced the cooling in the theatre seeing his condition ? We went into the recovery room with our son and requested the nurses to get some blankets. Although my son was given anesthesia, he wasn't sleeping and was clearly in pain and crying constantly. We asked the nurses to call a doctor to check and do something. My son felt like passing urine and we asked the nurses for the bed pan. We kept repeating the requests over and over but neither the doctors were seen nor the bed pan. My son continued to cry. I ran down the stairs to ask the reception to send a doctor immediately. The person kept saying that he would send the doctor but wasn't actually calling for anyone. After my repeated requests to do something immediately, he stated that there was no doctor in the hospital at that time (it was a very earthly hour of around 9am on a week day). I couldn't believe the attitude of the people who were supposedly taking care of the lives of our near and dear. When I ran back to the recovery room, one of the nurses had got thru to one of the doctors on the phone, who told my that the necessary pain killers, etc.had been administered and that we would see it having affect very soon. We were trying very hard to make our son sleep and the loud mouthed nurses didn't help one bit. While being fully aware of our plight they did nothing but make things worse for us. After I reacted angrily they were trying to put the buck on us stating that we were too many in the recovery room and that was what was disturbing our son.

We were informed that there was space available in one of the rooms where we could move. With great difficulty, we moved our son over there. After an hour or so he started to sleep. I took this opportunity to go meet the insurance guy from the hospital. I was amazed at the kind of work atmosphere in his office on one of the floors of the hospital. It was like a raddi shop (scrap dealer's shop). There were papers lying all over in a very bad mess. Anyways, initially he plainly stated that the insurance company would deny the claim. I told that we would try none the less. I filled the form and handed it over.

I got back to the room and sat by my son for a long time. A while later a very loud mouthed person entered the room and enquired about my son's wellness. His loud voice almost woke my son up. This man was the director of the hospital. One would have thought that a person at his designation would understand the quiet atmosphere that was needed in a hospital. In fact, even outside a hospital we see signs of 'no horn'. My son got up in sometime and seemed a little better. After a few hours, the surgeon visited us and did a little check and certified a discharge from the hospital. I contacted the insurance guy enquiring about the claim. He asked me to make the payment to the hospital and get discharged. Upon getting the approval / denial from the insurance company he would contact me and my payment could be either refunded or the denial letter would be handed over to me to pursue the case with the insurance company. I made the payment immediately and took my son home.

After two days I went to the hospital to checked again with the insurance guy about the status. The guy informed very plainly that the claim was declined. I asked him to give the denial letter. He said that the letter was not yet received and the denial was over the phone with the insurance company. He did not even have a name of the person who had supposedly denied the claim. I asked him to give me the claim form which would enable me to follow up with the insurance company. The guy searched the whole place like a raddiwala, under racks to files, in drawers, on the floor, again an again and after about half hour luckily found it. I immediately called the insurance company and was shocked to hear that the claim was approved on the very day of its submission. They had also faxed the approval to the hospital immediately. They then emailed me the letter of the approval sent to the hospital. I called the insurance guy and informed that my claim was approved. Then the guy calls back after about half hour and confirmed the approval. For me, it was quite obvious that the hospital wanted to earn money twice for the same surgery - from me and also from the insurance company. Unfortunately, they didn't deal with a guy who took their word for granted.

The whole episode shook my faith on the medical system in India. People are out there only to make money in fair means or foul. When a patient is coughing up any amount to the doctors and hospitals, is it too much to ask for to get the best of treatment and aftercare. Is the job of the doctor and hospital done by just getting the surgery over with ? The agonising part is that a patient can't raise any such question with the doctor or hospital as they can really screw one's life or even take it away...no questions asked. It is strange that the patient, who is supposed to get relief with the sight of his doctor from the feared disease/ailment actually fears the doctor as well.