Instead of treating the dislocated joint, doctors at the hospital put plaster on his elbow. Maharjan went home with a plastered arm but the pain did not lessen. He returned to the hospital to complain about severe pain. [break]
It did not take long for the doctor at the hospital to realize the mistake they made earlier. Only then did they tell Maharjan that he has to undergo a surgery to bring the dislocated shoulder in the right place.
He was admitted in the hospital again. "The surgery was scheduled for the next week," Maharjan´s wife Nani Sobha said, adding, "The operation did not happened on the scheduled date and was postponed for another week."
She said that her husband waited for another week in the hospital for surgery.
Like earlier, doctors at the hospital asked him not to eat anything and avoid even drinking water and tea from the evening before his surgery. In the morning, he was asked to put on a gown and then taken to the operation theater at 8 am. "I waited outside the operation theatre the whole day but the operation did not happen," Maharjan complained.
He said that the doctors informed him at 4pm that they cannot operate on him as the operation of the patients before him took a lot of time.
Maharjan complained that he stayed hungry the whole day and the operation was cancelled in the last hour.
He returned to his ward but in the evening doctors asked him to go home as a surgeon of the hospital was leaving for abroad to attend a seminar and that he would return one-and-half-months later.
"I have been facing traumatic time since I met an accident," complained Maharjan, adding, "The hospital gives much trouble than the real pain." He complained of continuous pain in his arm. Doctors give him painkillers for relief whenever he complains of pain. Maharjan´s wife said that surgery of her husband has been postponed over half a dozen times.
Sadly, there are many like Maharjan who have been facing trouble in getting timely treatment at the hospital. A lot of patients narrate similar tales of troubles and apathy at the hospital.
Ram Bahadur Majhi, of Khalte-4 Sarlahi, has been admitted in the hospital for the last two weeks for a surgery to fix his fractured wrist. The surgery was to take place last week. "The doctors cancelled the surgery at the last minute," Majhi´s wife Masali Maya, complained. She said that doctors told her that the operation of previous patients took much time so they cannot operate on her husband. "My 12-year-old daughter is alone at home. It is time for cultivation and we are stuck in hospital," she complained.
She is also worried about the expenses as the money she brought along has been declining.
Director at the hospital Dr Buland Thapa, who recently cautioned the doctors not to cancel scheduled operation at the last hour, admits that getting treatment at the hospital is not so easy. "I have asked them to inform patients ahead if they cannot operate on them on the schedule time," Director Thapa said. He concedes that it would be an injustice to the patients to keep them hungry the whole day and then cancel the operation in the last hour.
If a scheduled surgery is postponed, patients have to wait for another one week, as the hospital has limited number of operation theaters and each unit of the hospital can conduct surgery only once in a week.
There are other several factors why doctors cancel operation. Sometimes a single case takes longer than expected. The hospital has also been reeling with severe manpower crunch at a time when the flow of patients has been increasing. "Same anesthesia doctor has to look after the emergency case of the other departments so the operation gets postponed," said Dr Thapa. Sometimes doctors cancel operation when they think that it could extend beyond their duty hour. Latest example is the cancellation of an operation on the pretext of water shortage. The hospital authority said that operation was not cancelled because of water crisis.
"We need to expand infrastructure and increase manpower to make the treatment easier for patients," he added. He claims that he has been working to improve the situation. Bir Hospital is the national referral center, where patients from across the country come for treatment.
Dr Buland Thapa, Director, Bir Hospital
Are you aware of the troubles patients have been facing?
I am quite aware about the problems. I have been working hard to sort out the existing problems. As you know that we do not have adequate manpower to handle the flow of patients. Compare to the private centers, services in our hospital is very nominal. We also provide treatment to those who cannot spend money. So that poor patients from across the country come to our hospital for treatment. But getting treatment in our hospital is not easy for those who really need free treatment. Patients have to wait for months for a surgery.
With limited infrastructure and man power, we have to deal with a lot of cases. I have submitted a master plan to the office bearers of the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) to expand manpower and infrastructures. The hospital has been facing other problems as well
How long patients needing surgery have to wait at the hospital?
We have been doing a lot of surgeries in our hospital. We provide immediate care for emergency cases but patient have to wait if doctors think that the case is not an emergency. Due to limited manpower and lack of enough operation theaters, each unit of the hospital can conduct operation only once a week. We have been working to expand the operation theaters. We can conduct more surgeries if we have more operation theaters.
Related story
Bir Hospital's poor healthcare results in a seven-month surgery...
