My unpleasant experience at Delhi IVF – Dr. Anoop Gupta, Bengali Market, New Delhi
After 4 years of a whole range of fertility treatments, the one thing we realized was that there are multiple factors and reasons that lead to success/failure of these procedures. Success / failure can’t be pin point to a single cause. There are a range of factors that work in your favor plus that unqualitifyable factor called luck.
I am stating this upfront to clarify that the failure of the procedure is not because of the doctor or the clinic alone. It is not a parameter I use to decide how my experience was with a particular doctor or IVF clinic. I based on how we are treated as patients. As simple as that.
Each time we finalized on an IVF clinic was always out of references of friends and family followed by some basic internet research.
Dr. Anoop Gupta of Delhi IVF indeed came well recommended. So we decided to goto him in 2012-13.
The first meetings are always the nicest. The doctors present their best self and give you all their attention. Our first meeting with Dr. Gupta was no different. He heard our case out and assured us that we are in good hands. We hoped for the best and paid up the treatment charges and enrolled ourselves as his patients.
The first thing that struck us as odd was that all payments at Dr. Anoop Gupta’s were to be made by cash only. No credit cards were accepted. No receipts were provided except for consultation amounts, which was a very small part of the entire amount.
The waiting rooms, as in all hospitals across this country, were always overflowing with people. Dr. Gupta can’t be blamed alone for this. But, be prepared for long waits. Carry something to read or music to listen to.
When our turn came, we went into Dr. Anoop Gupta’s consultation room. The main consultation area at Dr. Anoop Gupta’s Delhi IVF is divided into two, with just a curtain to separate one from the other. One, where the patient talks to the doctor and one, where the ultrasound scans are performed.
While one patient is talking to the doctor after the scan, the next one is already readied for the scan inside. This all sounds very efficient if the two spaces are sound proof. But they aren’t. While I sit with the doctor and discuss my issues, the other patient inside gets to hear everything I am saying. Not only am I feeling odd about this complete lack of privacy, I’m sure I’m also putting her on the edge by exposing her to unnecessary details of my case.
I am one of those patients who has quite a few questions and doubts for my doctor. This didn’t go down well with Dr. Gupta. After he finishes what he has to say, he has the patience for maybe 2-3 questions tops. Post that, I could sense him fidget and get restless. Sometimes he even stood up, as if urging me to speeden up so that he can get on with the next patient(waiting for her scan inside.)
After the IVF, we asked him for a report. Their first response was, “What for?”. I told them I needed a record of what was done to my body. Is that too much to ask? After a few follow ups I got a sketchy email with a few essential details.
After the 14 day wait, when we went back to take the results(of the pregnancy test), we got a negative. We were shattered. Instead of some supportive words and some time to process this information, prompt appointments for the next cycle were recommended immediately as if asking us to get-on-with-it. After all it’s just an assembly line of women waiting to have a baby. We understand these doctors see positives and negative results everyday, but for us those few hours after we heard the news were shattering.
Apathy doesn’t stay restricted to the head of the organization. It trickles down to the whole staff(many but not all). Their attitude reminded me of clerks at a nationalized banks who couldn’t care less. They don’t know the C of customer service. They would be curt towards the patient and would often be indulging in chit chat and gossip amongst each other. This is supposed to be a place of care and sensitive treatment. The staff needs to respect that and restrict their gossip and internal politics to their tea breaks, and not while dispensing medicines and giving injections to patients. They need some basic training like those imparted at the larger hospital chains on how to carry oneself and how to deal with patients.
I would like to clarify again that we do not blame the doctor for the outcome. We blame him(and his staff) for making the duration of that treatment unpleasant for us. We blame DR. Anoop Gupta(and his staff) for lacking sensitivity, good manners and professionalism.
What should be a sensitive patient – doctor consult, no matter how brief, is almost always interrupted by calls on the doctor’s mobile phone. Sometimes you get to hear one sided conversations with patients that put you on the edge & sometimes it’s the doctor discussing his property matters with someone.
Is this how much attention and privacy a couple undergoing a fertility treatment deserves?
We have since met many other doctors and are currently undergoing treatment with another clinic in Delhi. Irrespective of the outcome, this doctor and the staff here have supported us and made our experience pleasant.