I happened to go to Malathi Manipal hospital on two separate occasions.
First, when my brother fell ill, and complained to stomach pain. With his history of kidney problem, he was asked to come for scanning the next day, then was asked to come for the report the day after. And finally when the doctors saw the report, 3 precious days were already over, and they couldnt find anything wrong with the kidney! Later, after continuous doses of pain killers, when the condition was still bad, he was scanned for appendicitis and finally confirmed. But by that time, the appendix was already in its next stage where the body surrounds the inflammed appendix, thereby preventing the infection from spreading to other parts of the body. Sadly, at this stage, the appendix is best left to heal on its own.
But when the pain persisted, he was admitted, and put on IV. He had severe back pain too and he had been telling the nurses regarding the pain. Meanwhile, the surgeon scheduled a surgery early next morning since his pain wasnt subsiding. When he came for rounds late in the previous evening, my brother told him about the backpain. Doc immediately advised an injection, and the backpain and all other pain vanished miraculously.
All of us got up at 4 am the next morning, anxious about his surgery under such circumstances. He was taken to the OR, but within 10 minutes, was brought back. The surgeon informed that, they had done a standard procedure called Examination Under Anasthesia(EUA), and confirmed that the appendix was inoperable!
After keeping him on IV for 3 more days, he was discharged. The bill was a huge one, thank God his company had this insurance.
There were huge loopholes here - first of all, the delay in diagnosis itself.
Then, the to and fro statements about surgery cannot be done, surgery will be done, and again surgery cant be done.
Then, finally, in the discharge summary, there was NO MENTION of the word appendicitis!
We went on a huge ride of tension, anxiousness, angst during those days and hope nobody goes through it.
On a completely different note, I took my daughter to a paediatric dermatologist. The appointment was at 4.10. I was like - 4.10! Wow, finally there is somebody who respects appointments! But alas! By the time we were let into the consultation room, it was 6.30! A full 2.5 hours wait! I was so enraged, complained to the manager and what not. They could have simply informed the patients’ families regarding the delay(if the doc himself had turned up late). They could change the timings alloted to each patient, in case it is found that the doc generally takes double the time alloted. I mean, something can be done! Waiting for 2-3 hours with kids is ridiculous. All the patients that day were complaining. I hope the hospital admin takes this into consideration.
Also, they are seriously under-staffed. The front desk people cant really handle all of the patients. The receptionists perform multiple tasks. I hope the doctor-patient relationship gets better here and that the doctors or the hospital administrators understand that the patients are also human beings and they also have their limits.