A top official of the state government had a shocking experience at a major hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. His father’s younger brother fell sick and he was brought to the hospital, where the staff said his condition was serious and he should be admitted in the ICU. Later, he was moved to the ventilator. When the official spoke to a person who had contacts in the hospital, that person called a junior doctor and enquired about his condition. “He is not on ventilator. He is just lying in the ICU. There is no complication. But don’t say I said it,” said the junior doctor.
The official called the senior doctor and without saying these things said he wanted to move the patient to the medical college. “The patient is on ventilator. It’s a risk. If you want to move, an ambulance with such facilities will be needed,” the senior said. The patient was moved to the medical college in an ambulance. There, it was found that his ailment was chest congestion and there was no need to put him in ICU.
Serving 10 patients with two ventilators
A major hospital in central Kerala has only two ventilators, but it bills ten people for that service at a time. This was revealed by an expert who has years of experience as a hospital consultant. “Some big hospitals will keep the patients on ventilator even after death. No one will doubt if an injection to prevent the body from decaying is given. Billing is per hour. Starting from Rs 7,000-Rs 8,000, there are some who charge up to Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000,” he said.
Another way to fleece is to take huge sums from patients for air bed, water bed, etc. Hospitals take cut-throat charges per day for water bed and air bed that are available from Rs 770 and Rs 1,500 onwards, respectively. This does not mean that all private hospitals do these things. There are hospitals that provide better treatment at a low cost and give money to poor patients. But institutions that loot people spoil even their reputation.
From ICU to death
A major hospital conducted an organ transplant surgery after people throughout the state chipped in. After a few days, hospital officials went to the ICU and said: “The fund is over. More money is needed to continue in ICU. If not, the patient will be moved to the ward.” The patient couldn’t raise money and the hospital kept its promise: though recuperation in the ICU was needed to prevent post-surgical infection, the patient was expelled from there. In the end, amid many patients in the ward, the patient died due to severe infection.
Don’t touch, that’s our patient
Since it has become a business to reap riches, hospitals have started experimenting new business tricks. Recently a hospital tried a new trick. Since it was located away from the heart of the city, by the time its ambulance waded through traffic to reach a patient some nearby hospital would have hijacked him. To overcome this situation, it introduced two-wheeler ambulances. If a person faints or has an accident anywhere, its two-wheeler ambulance will arrive with an attender. Until its regular ambulance reaches the patient through traffic jams, the attender will stay with the patient. The hospital actually sends a person on bike to ensure that it gets the patient, though it propagates the message that the intention is to give first aid and take care of the patient until the ambulance arrives.
It's not just police who have quotas
Like petty-case quotas set for police officers, many private hospitals fix quotas for doctors. Monthly targets are set for them in each category, like MRI scans and CT scans. Quotas are fixed after taking into account the price of imported equipment and profit margin. Even if a patient does not require many tests, doctors are forced to order them because of these quotas.
What is extra in deluxe?
Like top hotels, big hospitals offer executive and deluxe rooms. Those who generally take them are well-off people. However, even mid-rung hospitals frequented by ordinary people have started offering rooms and services in different slabs. Increasing rent in proportion to the size of the room is understandable. But when the same service offered in ordinary rooms is given in VIP rooms, how can hospitals justify higher rates? It is now a normal practice to say ordinary rooms are not vacant to get people for VIP rooms.
Students become doctors at night
Some MBBS students work as doctors at night in some private hospitals. Since it is illegal, hospitals do not shell out much and students get pocket money. Some doctors arrange the service of students from Kozhikode Medical College in some private hospitals in the city. During such service, a patient died because of the error in prescribing medicine. The hospital solved the problem by paying Rs 8 lakh to relatives.
(Prepared by Jayan Menon, N.V. Krishnadas, Gayathri Jayaraj and Joji Simon and compiled by George Varghese)
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