Not so long ago, medicos were considered demigods and people used to put utmost faith in them while they treated their loved ones. Contrarily, the successors of those are not trusted the same way and the popular tag for the profession is left just for namesake, as the fraternity itself will accept this bitter truth.
A news show on latest Kolkata -AMRI tragedy taught me a new word- ‘Hospital Entrepreneurs’. Till now, I thought that, even though corporate hospitals are known as money making regimes, the healthcare facilities are not yet looked entirely as a business model. And as I was wrong, that unfortunate incident of a ‘Five Star’ hospital claiming many lives not only revealed that the patients are treated as goods to be repaired, but also broke a myth that such hospitals also take complete care about other aspects of our safety. Certainly, hospitals are lacking the old human touch they carried as the words ‘Patient’ & ‘Customer’ seems to be synonymous in their dictionary.
Today, doctors don’t think twice or hesitate to charge you with fat figures when you are at their mercy, left without any option but to accept & bear. When your keen or loved ones require immediate medical treatment, the first question one will face from the medicos will be regarding the insurance cover of the patient, as the approach and cost of treatment are determined on the basis of that! The competition between the Doctors is so fierce that I have heard a Doctor whimpering someone on a phone, as his neighboring clinic staff was snatching away his patients in perhaps the most tarnishing fact of this ‘Not Anymore Noble’ profession. That’s why, if the circumstances permit, people insist to go for 3-4 opinions for not only going under the scissors but even for diagnosis.
It’s not just the doctors; all areas of health care industry are turning purely into money making business. One of such nexus between doctors & insurance providers was very well known. However, as the later started making losses due to hefty charges by the doctors, the mutual understanding broke down. This resulted into banning few hospitals from insurance cover & cashless treatment facility. In this famous standoff, it’s only the common people who are at the receiving end, as despite of having insurance cover, they need to arrange money for the treatment on urgent basis. Another infamous nexus is between the doctors and pharmaceutical companies, where, doctors not only get the commission but also get other perks for prescribing medicines. In this mutually benefiting relationship, doctors are also reported to provide under test medicines to poor patients and check the results of same.
Incidents when patients were operated at a stage when surgery could have been completely averted or delayed, and the ailment could have been cured by medicines frequently come into light. The cases of medical negligence, causing either death or leading to untreatable damage to the patients are also not new in either Govt. or private hospitals. In addition, doctors today lack the skills to diagnose diseases without doing numbers of tests compared to their predecessors, who mastered the art of diagnosis by knowing the symptoms & feeling the pulse. That also in an era when diagnostic tests were rarely practiced if existed. Apart from fierce competition, the other reason behind such negligence could be the reformed education system in many states, which allows financially capable parents to educate their kids in medical science irrespective of their academic performance and caliber. Such pass outs will surely have urge to recover & earn the money spend behind their education. Therefore, despite of advances in medical sciences and resultant healthcare facilities, such mindset may be partially responsible for the deteriorating healthcare standards through negligence or hasty calls for treatment.
Ironically in India, while urban areas are literally flooded with health care providers, majority of rural areas are still awaiting for primary health care facilities, as very few doctors opt to go rural.
On a positive note, there are still ‘Noble’ professionals who have kept the tradition going through their honest practice, while maintaining the dignity of their profession. They still reach out to needy people and extend their selfless service to the society. And these are the same ones who act not only as representatives but also reinstate respect and trust of this noble profession among the people.
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