HAS ARA SADAR HOSPITAL BECOME A HUB OF BROKERS?

HAS ARA SADAR HOSPITAL BECOME A HUB OF BROKERS?

15-FEB-ENG 11

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-------------------------Bhojpur's ISO-accredited Ara Sadar Hospital is in the news these days more for the chaos and frequent unpleasant incidents than for its healthcare facilities. The situation at the district's largest government hospital has become such that patients and their families who come for treatment feel unsafe and humiliated.

Journalist Jitendra Kumar witnessed an incident in the surgical ward, room number 69, on Friday, raising serious questions about the hospital's image. According to reports, after a patient was discharged, the delivery of his important documents was delayed for hours. The patient and his family repeatedly demanded their documents, but the staff on duty continued to evade the situation. Shockingly, the ward staff abandoned their duties and gathered in a storage room next to the operating theater (OT), engaged in banter and fun.

Amidst this gross negligence by the hospital, when the patient himself arrived to retrieve his documents, the behavior of the staff present there was absolutely shameful. Instead of focusing on their work, they were jostling for mobile phones. During this commotion and scuffle, the door of the room slammed directly onto the area where the patient had recently undergone surgery. When the patient protested his physical pain and the hospital's behavior and demanded a journalist, a young man present there crossed all limits.

The young man not only tried to advise the patient, but also used abusive language, calling himself the "father of journalists." Furthermore, he threatened to prevent the patient from entering the hospital again and to teach him a lesson. This incident clearly demonstrates the extent to which the morale of some antisocial elements and staff working at the hospital has become so high that they have no fear of the law or the administration. Given the gravity of the matter, when the patient returned to his bed and called the district civil surgeon on his official number to narrate his ordeal, his response was even more disappointing. Instead of finding a solution, the responsible officer advised the patient, "Stay at the hospital with a spirit of service, otherwise there's no need to come." When the victim suggested complaining about the entire incident to the District Magistrate, the civil surgeon disconnected the call.

The administrative insensitivity didn't end there. Shortly after the complaint, instead of correcting their mistake, the hospital management sent a private individual (an alleged broker) to the patient to try to settle the matter. After that person's intervention, the patient was hastily handed over his incomplete documents. When other staff members were asked for the name and position of the person who misbehaved, they all remained silent and tried to downplay the matter, saying, "Such things happen in hospitals; forget it."