rapa
09-15-2006, 05:30 PM
This is the story of a hospital management,
which does not care
a hoot for medical ethics or patient care.
To Apollo Hospital, Colombo, what matters is
``wallet biopsy,''
since fleecing the public is their unwritten motto.
The management
even has the brazenness to charge from patients for
tests, which
have never been done.
The latest victim of Apollo cussedness is my
husband Channa de
Costa, an executive of a leading multinational
company. He was
admitted to this so-called hospital on July 6, 2006
with a history
of acute cough and cold, chest tightness followed by
breathing
difficulty. After we consulted Dr. Praveen Gupta -
Pulmonologist -
the patient was given bed No.6006. He was
discharged on July 8,
after two days of treatment.
Before his discharge, on July 7, blood samples
were taken from
him for various tests. But none of these were given
even on the day
he was discharged. At the time of his discharge the
ward nurse
mentioned that the test results would be available
for collection
only on July 9 and the filarial antibody tests would
be available in
a week's time.
However on July 10, as Channa was again
experiencing chest
tightness, I phoned the Apollo Hospital and made an
appointment to
see Dr. Gupta. I showed him the medicine, which the
hospital nurse
had given the patient on the doctor's prescription.
I did it
merely to cross check whether the hospital had given
my husband the
correct drugs since we were not sure whether the
nurse had made a
mistake. Dr. Gupta's not-so-polite response was
that he was only a
consultant and it was not a part of his job to check
the medicines
(even though he had prescribed them). He told us to
go to a
pharmacy to check the medicines. His consultancy
fee per visit is
Rs.1000!
Since my husband was continuously complaining
about his chest
tightness, we then consulted a cardiologist, Dr.
Tripti Dep who
wanted me to collect his blood reports, which were
supposed to be
ready for collection on July 9. The doctor said
that she could not
proceed without the reports.
However at the collection counter we were told
that they had
received no such reports from the laboratory and
wanted me to return
the next day (July 11) with my husband. This
information totally
contradicted what the ward nurse told us at the time
the patient was
discharged from hospital. After I mentioned this
fact,
The staff at the collection counter crosschecked
with the
hospital laboratory and found that it had received
no such blood
samples from the relevant ward on July 7th.
Thereafter the
Executive Operation (bearing employment No.1820) Ms.
Vedavthi wanted
my husband to give fresh blood samples and assured
us that she would
do the tests within 30 minutes, whereas earlier we
were told that
such tests needed more than three days.
When we complained to the hospital's Assistant
Vice President
Dr. Rana Mehta, Nursing Director Ms. Costa and the
Matron their
response was that Dr. Praveen Gupta had never
prescribed the taking
of blood samples( even though it has been originally
prescribed by
him), which Dr. Tripti wanted to be taken. The
three of them
claimed that the whole matter was a technical error
on the part of
the nurse on duty at the time. However when we
asked them give the
same answer in writing they refused to do so.
To add insult to injury Mrs Costa (Director
Nursing) has already
billed us for the missing blood samples too, despite
our pleas to
which she responded with foul language. When we
were leaving they
shouted, ``you go to town and shout at us but it
will have no effect
on our hospital!''
This whole episode is clear proof that this
`hospital' has a
nursing staff, which has not received even basic
training.
We have already made a complaint to the
Narahenpita Police on
this matter.
In Greek mythology Apollo is a god. But in this
supposed
hospital it means demons!
which does not care
a hoot for medical ethics or patient care.
To Apollo Hospital, Colombo, what matters is
``wallet biopsy,''
since fleecing the public is their unwritten motto.
The management
even has the brazenness to charge from patients for
tests, which
have never been done.
The latest victim of Apollo cussedness is my
husband Channa de
Costa, an executive of a leading multinational
company. He was
admitted to this so-called hospital on July 6, 2006
with a history
of acute cough and cold, chest tightness followed by
breathing
difficulty. After we consulted Dr. Praveen Gupta -
Pulmonologist -
the patient was given bed No.6006. He was
discharged on July 8,
after two days of treatment.
Before his discharge, on July 7, blood samples
were taken from
him for various tests. But none of these were given
even on the day
he was discharged. At the time of his discharge the
ward nurse
mentioned that the test results would be available
for collection
only on July 9 and the filarial antibody tests would
be available in
a week's time.
However on July 10, as Channa was again
experiencing chest
tightness, I phoned the Apollo Hospital and made an
appointment to
see Dr. Gupta. I showed him the medicine, which the
hospital nurse
had given the patient on the doctor's prescription.
I did it
merely to cross check whether the hospital had given
my husband the
correct drugs since we were not sure whether the
nurse had made a
mistake. Dr. Gupta's not-so-polite response was
that he was only a
consultant and it was not a part of his job to check
the medicines
(even though he had prescribed them). He told us to
go to a
pharmacy to check the medicines. His consultancy
fee per visit is
Rs.1000!
Since my husband was continuously complaining
about his chest
tightness, we then consulted a cardiologist, Dr.
Tripti Dep who
wanted me to collect his blood reports, which were
supposed to be
ready for collection on July 9. The doctor said
that she could not
proceed without the reports.
However at the collection counter we were told
that they had
received no such reports from the laboratory and
wanted me to return
the next day (July 11) with my husband. This
information totally
contradicted what the ward nurse told us at the time
the patient was
discharged from hospital. After I mentioned this
fact,
The staff at the collection counter crosschecked
with the
hospital laboratory and found that it had received
no such blood
samples from the relevant ward on July 7th.
Thereafter the
Executive Operation (bearing employment No.1820) Ms.
Vedavthi wanted
my husband to give fresh blood samples and assured
us that she would
do the tests within 30 minutes, whereas earlier we
were told that
such tests needed more than three days.
When we complained to the hospital's Assistant
Vice President
Dr. Rana Mehta, Nursing Director Ms. Costa and the
Matron their
response was that Dr. Praveen Gupta had never
prescribed the taking
of blood samples( even though it has been originally
prescribed by
him), which Dr. Tripti wanted to be taken. The
three of them
claimed that the whole matter was a technical error
on the part of
the nurse on duty at the time. However when we
asked them give the
same answer in writing they refused to do so.
To add insult to injury Mrs Costa (Director
Nursing) has already
billed us for the missing blood samples too, despite
our pleas to
which she responded with foul language. When we
were leaving they
shouted, ``you go to town and shout at us but it
will have no effect
on our hospital!''
This whole episode is clear proof that this
`hospital' has a
nursing staff, which has not received even basic
training.
We have already made a complaint to the
Narahenpita Police on
this matter.
In Greek mythology Apollo is a god. But in this
supposed
hospital it means demons!