KOCHI: Even as medical professionals and hospitals, especially in the government sector, raise serious concerns over the increasing number of attacks on them and lack of stringent laws to tackle the situation, it is a fact that the patients are often neglected which lead to conflicts. Poor infrastructure, staff shortage and unavailability of drugs often cause skirmishes between patients and medical professionals in government hospitals. Rough attitude of doctors and paramedical staff worsens the situation. “There are doctors in community health centres, taluk, district hospitals and even in medical colleges who come to outpatient section only by 11 or 11.30 while the patients wait from 8.30 in the morning,” said M. Nandakumar, a social activist from Kalamassery. “There are doctors who behave very rudely and least bothered of the difficulties of patients.”
According to him, a training programme on good behaviour and modest approach to patients has to be made mandatory for all the staff in government hospitals. Most hospitals have no facilities like drinking water, toilet or rest room for the patients waiting for long time. “Usually, there will be only one counter to issue OP tickets and one pharmacy counter where it will be like a market. There will be not enough staff to manage the long queue of patients,” complained Suresh Kumar, a patient at North Paravur taluk hospital. It is a vicious circle of angry patients and irritated medical professionals who are helpless in improving the situation.
With no enough casualty medical officers and paramedical staff, conflicts and noisy scenes are common in casualty section. In the absence of CMOs, specialist doctors are deputed for casualty duty denying their service in OP section. Even in emergency cases, patients have to depend on private labs for tests like ECG. In most hospitals, the labs and pharmacies do not function after 6 pm. “Both the doctor and the relatives are tensed when a patient in critical condition is referred to private labs for tests during late night. Managing the vulnerable situation is a tough task for the medical professionals,” remarked Mr Nandakumar.
