Hospital vis a vis hotel……

                                            Worrisome situation

Not so recently, I ran across an old friend. He works as a human resource manager in a medium sized private hospital (as per the parameters of my city.) His face wore some melancholy expressions. I queried about the reasons of his this state of mind. He responded gravely,” The conditions of health sector, in fact, is not so healthy now a days, as it used to be in the past. For the first time, we are witnessing the situations when patients are not preferring to get hospitalized, as they often tended in the past.

Senior doctor sahib (proprietor) is badly off. Now seized by milder depression. A sufficient staff our hospital maintains, inclusive of some specialist doctors. If the situations linger as such……. even senior doctor sahib has begun taking pills of high blood pressure by looking into this decrease of number of patients. I don’t surprise, if in coming future, he by himself become a patient of sugar due to this situation.”

                                      It was a surprising element

This made me surprise. With the increasing population, the number of patients in ratio is supposed to increase. Then why it,s so? I further queried about the cause of the falling of numbers of patients. He offered a propitiatory answer, ” first thing, the numbers of private hospital in itself has outnumbered. Now a days, all private hospitals adopting a trend of offering low cost treatment packages like the hotel’s industry. Secondly, people too are preferring hotels instead of hospitals. Often a good number of people happened to develop a tendency of hypertension due to either overburden of work or because of marital life. They were in habit to get hospitalized to seek some treatment.

This they did under apprehension of some serious ailment like cardiac disease. Once, upon such apprehension put into the trap of doctors, they were forced to swallow  the big deal of medicines and follow the prescribed medical chart. Even, doctors on purpose, prescribed unneccessory medicines. Such medicines, in place of helping them recover, caused to develop other ailments as a side effects of medicines. Once accustomed to such medicines, they would become an actual hospital case. But now situation got changed.”

                                             Cunning customers

 This revelation was surprising, no doubt a realistic one. This often has been the part and parcel of private medical sector. They have avoided treating patient as a patient now a days. They take them as  a sheer profitable customer. It induced me to know, what such type of customers with hypertension nowadays opt for treatment. Friend responded gravely,” now situation is reversed, such sort of people, to get rid of hypertension have shifted their drive to opt for some “entertainment package” of tour and stay.

In old days, when they had to take a resort to some hospital, it was natural, original better half had to be there in hospital along with  as an attendant. And you know, in half the cases, main cause of hypertension is wife in itself. But in “tour and entertainment package” which such people manage upon pretension of some “business trip”. They are free to take another woman as a wife along with.

                                                 I consoled the friend

The realistic approach of the friend made me cheerful. With an intent to console him, I said, ”  Everything will come to the normal bro. Even the almighty  god too there is to manage the department of death and birth. There, he has to maintain a record of mortality rate of human beings. He will do something on this front and certainly will send the real patients to your hospital.”

This helped releasing the tension of friend. He gave a laugh and began further, ” In every service sector, same situation prevails. Primarily, there was a craze for medical degree. But it needs men with intelligence and diligence. Then came the fashion of “engineering sector,”  it  inspired rich businessmen to invest money in engineering colleges. Such colleges charge heavy fees from students and are under moral obligation to issue them engineering degree. And that too without judging the fact, whether they qualify the parameters of such knowledge or not. Millions of such fresher engineers now wandering on road with degrees in hands but no job. Ironically. such engineers are harnessed with all other aspects of knowledge, but not of their own field. About that they are at naught.

                                                keen observation

Indubitably, friend had had a keen sense of observation. I appreciated his micro-observation of the situation. He kept on saying,” as far as common people are concerned, in case of any malady or other ailment, they move to the government run hospitals. Otherwise for small troubles they too have got the option of tele-medication and easily find some treatment there. Apart from this, in every district, government is planning to open at least one new medical college. In near future the crowd of efficient doctors too is expected.

                                                          suggestion

This made me realize, most probably friend’s son or daughter too was a medical student somewhere. But with an intent to change the topic, I gave him an advice, “Just you suggest your senior doctor, that in case, hospital business comes to an end, not to worry. The architecture of hospital’s building is always in consonance with a hotel. I mean, the same type of reception, same type of room arrangement, lobby etc. Just he has to delete the word “hospital” from the “sign board” and replace it with “hotel” either.” This suggestion helped flashing a cunning spark in the eyes of friend. On the suggestion, he gave a full throated laugh and made off waving his hand in valediction.  Penned by– Vinay Pharasi…..