Doctor and patient song in Hindi

I am planning to write a book on the same name. Here is the first installment. Hope you like it.

+Raj Goel , +Rama Subramanian , +Thuthi Mohan, +Guna Sekar  I think you may find this interesting....

STRAIGHT WAY/PATH/ROUTE

PREFACE:

All the incidents are true; however names and dates have been deliberately withheld to save the erring   from embarrassment. That has however not prevented me from acknowledging and praising the persons or law enforcers who have while performing their duties helped me in these happenings and have helped me in remaining steadfast in my walk in straight path.

The purpose of recording the incidents is to reinforce the principle that truth prevails and truth can shake the weak foundation of falsehood provided we are on the side of truth with all sincerity.

Straight path is shorter and surer and the results are mostly definitive. You can compare it with straight line, which is the shortest distance between any two points.

Straight path is    the path of truth.

If we are not in a position to reach the truth by straight path known to us, we should not hesitate to take guidance from reliable sources. Some of the incidents have been left with no answer to the questions from my side. I sincerely hope that you readers may be able to show a straight path in these unresolved issues.

The government agencies, which are the custodians and protectors of justice, have been projected for long to be irresponsible by the media. Throughout the episodes one common pattern you can appreciate:  but     for these agencies like Police, MRTP, Vigilance department of Telephone Department or Civil Supplies Department to name a few, none of the incidents would have reached the logical conclusion i.e. Truth Prevails. That is their importance. Please do not underestimate the power of these agencies. People howsoever strong and bold outwardly still fear law and these agencies are the arbitrators of law and they act for protecting the true persons.

It is indeed unfortunate that   in this land where the tenets of personal ethics are stressed in our strictures like Thirukkural, Neethi Shatakam, the people I encountered in these happenings had little faith in personal ethics; they understood only the language of law and force. On the contrary in UK and USA, the people in general attach so much importance to personal ethics and responsibility that there is hardly any role for law enforcing agencies in day-to-day activities. No wonder people who have visited these or such countries sing praises of them. Till such time that we Indians also attach importance to personal ethics and responsibility, the role of law enforcing agencies, as a deterrent will remain; it is a source of strength for persons walking straight path.

There is a saying in SANSKRIT  “DHARMAM RAKSHATI RAKSHITAHA” which means if you protect justice  (truth) it in turn will protect you.

 

1.SURGEON’S RELUCTANCE-1

            

                    

    It is common practice in our hospital setup that patients of diverse problems get admitted through the Casualty.  It is not uncommon that a surgical patient gets admitted in a medical ward or vice versa.  No sooner does the Specialist realize that the patient suffers primarily from their specialty related problem, they are supposed to transfer the patient under their care and look after them.

                                                                        What happens if a specialist does not take responsibility for his specialty related problem? 

       How I approached the issue?

       A case of terminally ill cancer of colon (Large intestine) got admitted in medical ward under my care.  As is the usual practice, calls were sent to the surgeon, who evaded transferring the patient to his ward.  In spite of repeated reminders for taking responsibility for his specialty, the surgeon failed to take the patient under his care. 

       I approached the Director of the Hospital and explained the recalcitrant attitude of the surgeon; initially the Director evaded the issue by stressing about collective responsibility, which I strongly contested.  I insisted that Director should personally see the patient and his case records and act with justification; he reluctantly accepted my proposal and he himself was convinced that I was right in my stand.  The Director then, in his own official capacity, without waiting for the surgeon’s concurrence, transferred the case to the surgeon’s ward. 

       This was a moral victory for me.  The episode vindicated my stand that each specialist is morally, ethically and legally responsible for his specialty related acute care, chronic care and terminal care.  I had morally forced, by my straight talk, the Director to act in a straight approach to this problem. 

       The beneficial fallout of this episode was: other specialists have been sensitized to my no-nonsense approach in these basic issues and hence they do not shirk their responsibilities as frequently as they used to do.

FIXING OF RESPONSIBILITIES

One of the distressing aspects in service is passing the responsibility of fixing the problem to someone else.This is a perennial problem of government service in India.Surprisingly and distressingly this attitude is creeping rather rapidly in private sector also.


The reason why this attitude is creeping is simple.No action is taken for passing on the buck and no real encouragement is given for persons who strive hard to solve the problem at their end.


I shall illustrate this by a few examples:


1 A person comes to a ration supplier for changing address so that he can get the services of the ration shop nearby his new residence.This is a simple job requiring deletion of the name from existing shop,giving details of card holders particulars in a form ,communicating this information to the new ration shop and thereby the consumer getting ration facilities within a single day.The ration shop should communicate the change to the regional ration office.In this age of fax ,email etc this process can be done in no time,in fact in real time (instantly).In reality because the responsibilty is tranferred to regional office this process takes a minimum of ௧. month.

2. The service of banking is an example how decentralisation and encouraging single window operation has benefitted the customers.A decade ago getting a draft involved several steps in the bank and as a result one applying for draft at 10 O'Clock would be expected to get it by 3 O'Clock.Now with single window operation you can get the draft made in 5 minutes!
I feel this type of single window operation is possible in most situations.
In certain situations like patient care also this single window scheme is possible but in a modified way.The person comes in contact with a doctor for a problem;it is the responsibilty of this first doctor to arrange for appropriate consultation and to follow up the patient.This in effect will be single window scheme for patient care.This doctor cannot and should not be allowed to pass on the patient to another doctor just like that;he should be made accountable to the patient forever.This will ensure that he shows adequate interest in the welfare of the patient.
iN SHORT WHAT I SUGGEST IS THAT RESPOSIBILTY SHOULD BE FIXED ON THE FIRST PERSON WHO HANDLES THE CASE.

EVER PRESENT PROBLEM OF SHORTAGE OF STAFF-SOLUTOINS

DEAR FRIENDS

ONE OF THE MOST PRESSING PROBLEMS FACED BY GOVERNMENT IS SHORTAGE OF STAFF.

IT TAKES AGES TO FILL THOSE POSTS;IDENTIFYING THE VACANT POSTS,ADVERTISING,CALLING FOR INTERVIEWS AND SELECTION OF A SUITABLE CANDITATE ARE THE STEPS INVOLVED.

FOR A VACANT POST OF MEDICAL SPECIALIST IN OUR PUBLIC SECTOR(GOVERNMENT) HOSPITAL THIS PROCESS TOOK 3 YEARS AND 5 MONTHS.FOR ALL THIS TIME ,I AS THE ONLY SPECIALIST HAD TO SHOULDER THIS ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY.THAT MEANS I WAS PERFORMING THE JOB OF 2 SPECIALISTS WHILE MY ORGANIZATION PAID ONLY MY USUAL SALARY ie I WAS DOING THE ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR FREE.WHEN THIS WAS POINTED TO THE HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION AND WHEN I DEMANDED SUITABLE COMPENSATION FOR THIS EXTRA WORK ALL I GOT IN REPLY WAS A GIGGLE AND A STATEMENT THAT THIS IS NOT PERMISSABLE UNDER RULES.

THIS EXTRA BURDEN HAS CAUSED MEDICAL PROBLEMS LIKE CERVICAL SPONDYLOSIS,LUMBAR SPONDYLOSIS,PERI ARTHRITIS OF MY RIGHT SHOULDERetc;BESIDES IT HAS KEPT ME on call 24HRS A DAY FOR ALL THE 365 DAYS OF EACH YEAR FOR THE LAST3+ YEARS.THIS WHEN TOLD TO THE AUTHORITIES ONLY EVOKED THE RESPONSE THAT THIS IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE JOB.

IN EFFECT I HAVE TOILED FOR THE ORGAISATION BECAUSE I WAS CONSCIENTIOUS OF MY DUTIES BUT THE ORGANISATION HAS NOT OFFICAILLY RECOGNISED MY THIS SENSE OF DUTY CITING INABILITY BECAUSE GOVERNMENT RULES DON'T PERMIT EXTRA PAY.

ON THE OTHER HAND ,IN THE SAME ORGANISATION CLERKS AND NON MEDICAL EMPLOYEES DO NOT HAVE THIS ATTITUDE OF CONSCIENCE OF DUTY. WHEN THERE IS SHORTAGE OF STAFF IN THEIR CADRE,THEY AS A RULE DO NOT SHARE THAT ADDED RESPONSIBILITY;LEAVE ALONE TAKING ADDED RESPONSIBILITY FOR LONG PERIODS AS I DID FOR 3+ YEARS,THEY DO NOT DO IT FOR EVEN A SINGLE DAY.EACH EMPLOYEE KEEPS HIS FILE UNDER LOCK AND KEY AND ONLY AFTER SOMEONE JOINS THE POST WILL THEY OPEN THE KEY AND AFTER A LAG PERIOD SLOWLY START WORKING.THIS APATHETIC WORK ATTITUDE IS ACCEPTABLE TO THE ORGANISATION ;MY DEMANDING RECOGNITION FOR THE EXTRA EFFORTS IS NOT WELL TAKEN AND DUE RESPECT FOR THIS EFFORT IS NOT FORTHCOMING.

I SUGGEST THE FOLLOWING REMEDY TO THIS PROBLEM:

WHEN A POST IS VACANT FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS,THE PERSON WHO IS TAKING UP THAT RESPONSIBILTY SHOULD BE GIVEN THE MINIMUM BASIC PAY OF THE VACANT POST.IF SEVERAL PERSONS ARE SHARING THAT ADDED RESPONSIBILTY,THAT BASIC PAY CAN BE EQUALLY DIVIDED AMONST THEM.

FOR EXAMPLE IN MY CASE I SHOULD BE GIVEN AN ADDITIONAL EQUAL TO THE MINIMUM BASIC PAY FOR A SPECIALIST ie Rs10000/ only per month.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE:3 STAFF NURSES OF A DEPARTMENT SHARING THE REPONSIBILTY OF A VACANT 4th POST OF STAFF NURSE WOULD BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE 1/3 OF THE MINIMUM BASIC PAY OF THE VACANT POST.

THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE SPENDING MUCH LESS THAN FILLING UP THE POST(IT WILL SAVE THE GOVERNMENT THE ALLOWANCES AND OTHER PERKS).IT WILL HONOUR THE STAFF WHO ARE TAKING UP THE EXTRA RESPONSIBILTY.IT WILL THEREBY BOOST THE MORALE OF THE CONSCIENTIOUS STAFF.IT CAN EFFECTIVELY REWARD THE RESPONSIBLE STAFF.