Last week, my father had a surgery at PECHS Trauma Center and alhamdulilah say he’s in recovering phase these days. The surgeon who has supposed to be performing the surgery also has clinic at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), so when he said the surgery is necessary we assumed he’ll be conducting that over there. Just two days before the surgery, he told us that the surgery will be performed at PECHS Trauma Center. We all were appalled by it because in that week, a case relating to negligence in performing the medical duties at the hospital was doing the rounds in media. An inquiry committee had been setup to probe and report about the incident.
The doctor wasn’t ready to change the place and we all thought it was because of two reasons
a) Since he was associated with the hospital he wanted to bring them business in those hard time to show there’s nothing wrong with it
b) His share of money is more then his share at better/luxurious hospitals like AKU and South City.
The following is just a narration of what I observed and witnessed over there in the week he stayed over there.
The day of the surgery, after local anesthesia affect was wearing off, daddy started feeling discomfort and it was showing on his face and his body movements that he was in pain. My mother called the nurse on duty and reported that he’s in pain and can he be seen and give any medicine? When the nurse came and asked daddy what was he feeling, the words he used were ‘anxiety’, ‘discomfort’, ‘itching’. As soon as she had heard his sentences, she in literal sense started talking loudly (shouting?) at all of us attendants and my relatives who have come to visit. The gist of her conversation was
“Uncle tu keh rahe hain unhe koi pain nahi ho raha. Aur bhi hospitals mein ghaltian hote hain. Staff members kee wajah say he loog sahih ho kar jate hain. Agar aik nay ghalti kardee tu is mein hamara kia qasroor. Hum tu apne duty kar rahe hai na. Yeh tu keh rahe hain unhe koi pain nhao horaha tu phir aap loog kion keh rahe hain inhe pain hai?”
Translation: According to uncle, he is not in any pain. Just because a mistake by a staff member please don’t act as if we are not doing our duty.
I am not sure if the word trauma in the name is taken literally by the hospital staff. Because the nurse yelling was totally uncalled for and nobody had said even a word about their care and service. We just watched her drama after she left I commented “God, why is everyone in such a defensive mood?” One of my paternal uncles who was there asked what had just happened as he had no idea about the cases.
After her episode, my elder brother decided that since my younger brother was to meet the surgeon at that time we should call him and tell him to ask the doctor for advice and confirm if the pain and these symptoms occur after the surgery. The surgeon must have then called the hospital and the doctor on duty arrived. He complained that he was coming and why had we called the doctor? Then we had to pacify him as well that we didn’t have dr no and my brother was there because he had asked him to come in the evening and will you guys please check the patient instead of being annoyed?
Apart from this, I noticed that the staff on duty had to be called at least twice before they would come to grace us with their presence. Also, some of them were pretty lazy or irresponsible in performing their duties. For example, they would have to be called for taking B.P. or they need to be reminded that since he has taken XYZ pill within the last 12 hours and so he can’t take another one as yet. Or when a nurse would change the drip, she would left it leaking or forget to do inject it correctly.
Apart from the medical staff care, the hospital was being extended and the construction was going right outside our window. There was to much noise and the cherry on top was that the workers kept shouting to be heard over the noise. I am not sure if there are laws regarding hospital construction in the active area but I would suggest that they are made and followed to minimize the commotion levels near hospitals. Because it’s very annoying and not all beneficial for the patients to be in contact with so much noise pollution when they are recuperating.
And one another shocking news is that anybody could just waltz into the Operation theatre and ICU without any identification and proper attire. One day, I saw a lady just walk into the place and during that her phone started ringing with a very loud song. One of the guys from the OT did come out and scolded her for being there and letting her phone ring right next to ICU but without proper control at the door, anybody can do as they please.
This is not to say that all the hospital staff and doctors were difficult or tardy. And I don’t have any other experiences at hospitals so I can’t compare the level of service. The plus point for the hospital was that it was clean and the room was good enough. Apart from the details mentioned above, the others staff and doctors were warm and considerate. However, the conclusion I can draw from the whole experience is that you literally had to be on your toes and keep your wits about while dealing with them. Because their single mistake can wreak havoc.
. During the past few months, I’ve been tagged thrice and awarded twice! Thank you for remembering and honoring me 
) and message each other on Vypress about everyone’s free time to schedule a time for playing. The amazing fun part is that no matter how busy anyone would be, he/she would take the time out or finish it in a matters of minutes (due to adrenaline rush 
