Rift widens between patients and doctors

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 20

Shortage of medicines and diagnostic kits at government health institutes is resulting in widening the rift between government doctors and patients, as is evident from the numerous instances in which the patients accuse doctors of negligence.

The recent example is that of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital where relatives of a patient who died during treatment locked an on-duty doctor in a room and held the staff directly responsible for the death.

The family of the deceased alleged that their patient was not shifted to the ICU even though it was required. However, doctors maintained that tests for AIDS and Hepatitis C were required to be conducted before shifting the patient and the family had not got the tests done.

In the background lies the fact that the hospital did not have diagnosis kits for either AIDS or Hepatitis C.

Unmindful of the protocol being followed by the hospitals with regard to shifting the patients to the ICU, a relative of the deceased reasoned, “The tests could have been done after shifting the patient to the ICU. The doctors are simply not interested in treating patients.”

However, a doctor said, “If a patient is shifted to the ICU from a particular ward, the doctors would be more than happy, as their workload would decrease. The general public often blames us for the faults of the government.” He said if the tests were available in the hospital, perhaps the incident could not have occurred.

Under the impression of advertisements by the government to provide free services, the patients can often be seen arguing with medical staff, as they feel that they are being duped. “There surely are people who do not have interest in serving people, but not everyone is corrupt. As the medical staff and especially the doctors are the dealing hands, they face the wrath of the general public,” said another doctor at the medical college.