My mother consults Dr TS in the cardiac OPD at Asian Heart Institute. Last week she had a sudden emergency pulmonary edema and was admitted in the ICU as arranged by Dr TS. The ambulance called through 126126 came within 15min and she reached the Casualty dept in another 15min at 5am with no traffic. However emergency attention was not as prompt as when she had an earlier episode at Wockhardt in Bangalore.
ICU nursing care was very good and attentive, the nurses were kind and hard working. However the Medical Director / ICU head who was not her doctor, unnecessarily added 2 visiting charges just for saying "How are you feeling Mrs X". Usual mercenary practice in most hospitals but not at Wockhardt Bangalore. For 1 relative / attendant of an ICU patient, there is a dormitory style bed on the first floor.
After 2 days ICU she was shifted to a twin bed ward. This was most gloomy as her bed did not receive any daylight whatsoever and she felt very depressed in the absence of natural light for so many days. Due to the weekend, she had to be in the depressing ward for 2 extra days and angioplasty was performed only on the Monday. All hospitals should ensure that all beds in a ward receive adequate natural light.
During this time, the floor doctor one Dr Ms J Vora added her daily visiting charges - again for just saying "And how are you feeling today?", and recommended an unnecessary thyroid test which was not even recommended by my mothers cardiac doctor Dr TS. Again, another mercenary practice.
The angioplasty cost double of what Wockhardt Bangalore charges, but was performed very efficiently by Dr TS with state of the art equipment. We were able to speak to her through video conference just before she was taken to the theatre, and the doctor himself came and explained to us the procedure that he had done, as soon as it was finished.
Nursing care in the ward is okay, the nurses are pleasant but do not make frequent visits unless called. They insist on an attendant staying with the patient at night even though it is not written anywhere at the time of admission. When I asked why it is compulsory for someone to stay when the patient does not want anyone to stay, they virtually absolved themselves of responsibility to look after the patient.
When a near and dear relative is admitted in emergency to a hospital, you are literally at the hospital’s mercy with not much say on anything even though you are paying through your nose for it all. On the second day, I asked for xerox copies of the admission forms I had signed. The rather patronising girl at the Admissions counter, one Ms S. Pillai first refused to give it, then when I protested that I am entitled to a copy of anything I sign, she reluctantly asked her senior who wanted to know why I want it, after shouting at them, they finally gave it to me, whereas all the unpleasantness could well have been avoided by giving it in the first place.
No one - attendant or visitor - is allowed in the hospital lift without a pass, however this information is not displayed or advertised anywhere with the result that there is always an argument with the lift man resulting in delays in going up and down.
Patients relatives and visitors are not allowed to use the staircase. On Sundays when there are maximum visitors, only 1 lift is in use for patients and visitors, leading to chaotic conditions and a mad scramble to get in every time the lift comes to the lobby. No queue system is followed. I personally witnessed a stretcher patient arrive and the security had to literally push the crowd away from the lift to wheel the stretcher in, however several people pushed in behind the stretcher, the lift would not close and the security men had to fight with the people and force some of them out. This was truly shocking, the patient could have died in the fracas. Most unacceptable. When queried, the security staff said that only the Corporate Department could authorise starting the second lift, and after I Complained to the Admissions desk, they finally did start the second lift.
THE FIRE EXIT WAS SHOCKINGLY LOCKED WITH A PADLOCK WHICH IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION GIVEN THAT THE ONLY OTHER EXIT IS THROUGH ONE NARROW GATE AT THE MAIN LOBBY. However even though I pointed out the serious offence of locking the Fire Escape, nothing was done about it and it remained locked the next day as well. At Wockhardt Bangalore, the Fire Escape staircase was very broad, wide open and well lit, also freely accessible.
The Billing Dept. was polite and gave interim bills as and when we asked for them, however after the angioplasty, even though I immediately approached them for the figure, they took 24 hours to prepare the bill which I could get only at the time of discharge. If I had not complained to the corporate department at the time of discharge, my bill would have taken another couple of hours to prepare.
While we were there, I also heard another patients relative complaining about the bathroom water leakage in the patients ward. The overall atmosphere at AHI is not encouraging, there is a general aura of gloom pervading. All in all, I would not rate the AHI very highly, it is no less mercenary in its practices as any other hospital in Mumbai, the cardiac doctor Dr T S was very caring and gave my mother a lot of his time during visits but the house doctors and others whose services were absolutely unsolicited, all added unnecessary charges in a most mercenary manner. The serious lapse viz. the locked Fire Escape deserves immediate action from the authorities.