Stay in Q, get an OP card for Treatment even If You’re Bleeding at Wenlock Hospital?

Stay in Q, get an OP card for Treatment even If You’re Bleeding at Wenlock Hospital?

Stay in Queue, get an Out Patient Department {OPD} card for Treatment even if You’re Bleeding at Wenlock Hospital? And that was my experience today when I had gone there for a minor bandage of my bleeding wounds from a two-wheeler accident. Read More….

Mangaluru: I guess it wasn’t a good day for me today, Tuesday 10 April 2018. Having got up early today, to attend the funeral mass of Nikitha Cutinha {who had passed away due to injuries when she was knocked down by a speeding car} at 7.15 am at Derebail Church; and after attending the Press Meets at Press Club, Urwa, Mangaluru- and while I was heading towards Hampankatta via Car Street on my two-wheeler a speeding Bajaj scooter with two youngsters, with no helmets, crashed into my two-wheeler while I was making a turn near the Car Street.

The impact was so hard, that I was knocked down hard on the concrete road- and luckily wearing the helmet saved me from severe head injuries. I could feel the thud on my helmet when it hit the concrete road. Even though the two youth knocked me down due to their entire fault, they both picked me up, and apologized way too many times, and gave me an excuse that the rider was in a hurry to see his mother in the hospital. But since I was hurt on my arm, and fingers, and was bleeding, I requested the rider to wait for a while. At one point the youth was happened to be a nice guy in picking me up- but now he turned out to be a total CROOK.

On my request he said that he will move his scooter on the side- and that was a prank- he quickly raised the accelerator and rode off. At this moment I was so pissed off that I literally cursed him, and yelled at him to come back- if not he will be in a serious accident and that he may……?? Anyways my efforts were all in vain, the youth just took off. And even though there were a bunch of auto-rickshaw drivers and public- they all simply watched and didn’t come to my rescue. One auto driver tells me that I should have snatched away the scooter keys- I replied you could have done that or alerted me earlier. This is like, it’s no use crying over spilled milk’.

Bad part was that the two-wheeler didn’t even had a license plate- guess the scooter was stolen or probably no driver’s license-plus both were without helmet and riding rash. With no other option, I washed my fingers and hands at water tap of school Book Company, but the bleeding never stopped, and it was dripping all over my scooter. I quickly rushed towards Hampankatta and decided to go to Wenlock Hospital for treatment. OMG- the crowd and pathetic condition inside the hospital scared the sh## out of me. There was huge queue already, but the security man said that I can go to room no 23 for a quick bandage of my bleeding wounds.

Entering Room no 23, I witnessed all the so-called young doctors were in a meeting, and a bunch of patients waiting. Oh well- I waited and then a nice looking nurse comes to my aid, but she insisted that I get an out patient card from the front office. So I went back to the counter to get my OP card, but unfortunately, the computers were down, and the people waiting for long in the line were raising their voices and what not? So I returned back to Room no 23 and told the staff there that they are not issuing OP cards since the system is down- the staff tells me, the computers are back working, so go and get the OP card now.

So once again I go back to the front office for my OP card- the queue which had only a bunch of people had grown to a big line- now I gave up my hopes of getting treated at the Famous Wenlock Hospital?? Even though I had heard in the past about the services and facilities which are pathetic at Wenlock Hospital I didn’t give much thought to it- but now I know the truth, being one of the victim of negligence, carelessness and non-courteousness of the management and staff of Wenlock Hospital. And truly this is the Pathetic Condition Of Government Hospitals in our nation, and for that matter, here in Mangaluru too.

Having no other option, I quickly rode to City Hospital, Kadri-Mangaluru, where my two doctor friends, Dr Roshan Shetty and Dr Rohan Shetty {the trustees at the hospital} quickly attended me, and my wounds were bandaged by the nurses and the best part was that the treatment was FREE. Thank You doctors, and nurses! Yes, it is true about a very old maxim that “Health is Wealth”. A healthy person can work with efficiency to earn wealth. Good health is a great asset. It is the most valuable treasure a man could have. Every city has Government hospitals who provide treatments full of free service to the poor people and charging for the treatment is also low cost to everyone. Compared to government, private hospitals are little bit high in charging.

With the rapid expansion of population and shortages of health care facilities in government hospitals, private hospitals in the society have been playing a vital role. But the sad part is that even though there are many government hospitals which are providing health services to the populace of the region, the services rendered is inadequate in terms of quantity and quality. One can find by looking his own way. That means, if you are ill, which hospital will you prefer to go??? Obviously private, its because we have lost our faith in Government Hospitals. They lack Good Infrastructure, proper management, dedicated staff and many other things.The attitude of employees is also worst in few govt hospitals, like the one I faced today. I had to go to many staff, but didn’t serve the purpose. No service is provided in time.

If we look at the government hospitals in terms of infrastructure and the 3M (Material, Manpower & Money supply) it is worst ever. Though the government supplies free medicines, there seems to be no interest among the hospital staff to store it in a proper manner. Few times medicines are found stored in unhygienic conditions.

In our country nearly 40% to 45% of people are Below Poverty Line. Hence poor prefer Government Hospitals due to the free treatment provided. But Government hospitals are known for their lack of sanitation and basic infrastructure like beds, qualified doctors, sufficient medicines, inadequate quantity and quality of staff, underpaid and unhappy staff, etc.,

One may be easily mistaken by the serene look of government hospitals spread across the heart of the city. But make no mistake about it — the government hospitals are known for bad maintenance. Name it, Toilets to corridors to balconies are dirty, unwashed and stinking. Such a condition exists although the hospitals are adequately staffed, at least on the record. “People need to be healthy if they have to learn, earn and lead a productive and fulfilling life”. The pathetic condition of government hospitals is no surprise to anyone. Affordable but reliable health care is still an illusion in government hospitals. Do one-off the raids change these conditions??? Or, are they just an eyewash???

In conclusion, although my instance was not a life-threatening one, at least, when the computers were down, the staff could have used their common sense to write my name and treatment process manually, rather than make me wait and run to and for, with my bleeding fingers and arm. I do agree the staff has to go according to the rules, but when modern machinery breaks down, you need to go back to the 70s and 80s procedures- do it manually. I tried calling Julian Saldanha-RMO at Wenlock and Dr Rajeshwari {DMO}, whom I know very well, but for some reason, my calls couldn’t go through from inside the hospital. Oh well, at least my experience story will bring a change in the hospital. At least, treat the patient quick if he or she visits Wenlock hospital with bleeding wounds, and NOT make them wait in the Queue to get an OP card and all that bul#######? Thank You!

Note: Pics for illustration only