It is a long time since I am writing a review. This time it is about Fortis Hospitals, Cunningham Road, Bangalore. Previously, this was part of the Wockhardt group and subsequently Fortis purchased it.
My father had vertigo for some time and we took him to MS Ramaih. There, they gave him a device called Holter and asked him to wear for 24 hours. The Holter measurements showed no issues. My father has been taking Cholesterol(Atorvastatin) and Hypertension(Ramopril) medicines for almost 8 years and the cholesterol has always been in control. Subsequently, after 6 months, the vertigo episodes became less frequent and my father started getting chest pain during walking. First it happened when he walked for a significant distance and then within a week, he could not walk even short distances(< 1/2 km). We took him to MS Ramaih again and there they suspected coronary artery blocks. They did an angiogram and found out that he had three blocks and termed it as a tri-vessel disease. They recommended an early CABG surgery(Coronary Artery By pass Grafting).
We consulted our relative who is a Senior Cardiologist in Chennai and on his advice, we went to Dr.Mohammed Rehan Sayeed of Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore. Dr.Rehan had a look at the angiogram CD and recommended a Minimally Invasive CABG surgery. There is a difference between a regular CABG and a minimally invasive CABG. In minimally invasive procedure, only a small cut is made and the surgery is performed. Dr.Rehan has given a presentation on the differences between the traditional and minimally invasive approch and this is available in the URL https://youtube.com/watch?v=5Hld21EUNx0&noredirect=1.
We planned to admit my dad on the subsequent week itself. The front desk staff at the hospital were helpful in explaining the package and the approximate expenses that it would take. On the day that I brought my dad to the hospital, he started having chest pain. So instead of admitting him to the ward, we had to admit him to emergency where he was monitored and taken to MICU(Medical ICU). Luckily, his parameters became fine and he was taken to surgery the next day itself.
The surgery took around 2 to 3 hours and later we learnt that the doctor had done it on beating heart. That means, the heart was never stopped during the surgery. I have heard that during traditional By Pass surgeries, the heard is stopped and a heart-lung machine will take care of pumping the blood while the operation is on. Once the operation is over, the heart will be kick started using a defibrillator. In this case, all the three by passes were done on a beating heart. Since this was a Minimally Invasive surgery, the blood loss was minimal and hence my dad did not need any transfusion.
After the surgery, my dad was kept in the SICU(Surgery Intensive Care Unit) for 1 day and then was shifted to the ward. Both the SICU staff and the ward staff were very good and took good care of the patient. My dad was discharged after being in the ward for 4 days.
The discharge formalities were also simple. Once Insurance approved their portion, the front desk staff gave a clear idea of how much Insurance will bear and how much we had to pay. Once we paid, the discharge was done quickly. Unlike other hospitals where discharge summary is written only after the payment, in this case, the discharge summary was ready and explained to us.
Overall we are very happy with the care we received in the hospital. I would like to summarize the good things we noted:
1) Excellent and very experienced doctor - Dr.Rehan Sayeed and his team
2) Good Nursing care - Nursing care was good in SICU, MICU and the wards
3) Security folks were helpful. They did not frown on the attendants and did they job efficiently
4) Physiotherapist - She explained things very clearly and was very helpful
5) Dietician - She explained things very clearly and was very helpful
6) Hospital’s practice of honouring best employees - Within the hospital passages, one can notice huge boards mentioning the best employees of the month and the year along with their photos. This definitely serves as a motivation for others to excel.
7) Efficient Front Desk staff - The front desk staff were efficient.
A few things that could have been better are as follows:
1) Parking: This hospital has very limited parking and often visitors have to find parking on nearby roads. Cunningham road is a busy road with parking restrictions.
2) Lifts: Visitor lifts are small and hence one often has to wait for a long time to get into the lifts.
3) Pantry: The pantry for visitors is very small and inadequate.
4) Attender Lounges: There is an lounge common for attenders of General Ward, MICU and SICU patients. This is a small one and inadequate. Also, the taps in the adjoining rest rooms do go dry at times. Easy chairs are provided in this lounge for sleeping in the night. People do lay down with their own bedsheets also. But some attenders keep watching TV till late nights thereby disturbing others who are tired after tending to the patients.
The overall cost came to around Rs.2.16 L.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this hospital for Cardiac problems and surgeries.