My dream is to make my hospital a place where things are done proactively for the patients’ comfort. I have worked relentlessly to create a place where both the rich and the poor can get the best of health care. My emotions are attached with every brick that was laid in the foundation.
Many of my colleagues think that I have no life beyond the walls of my hospital. I appreciate their concerns but I just love my work too much. This is the biggest stress buster for me.
I have made it mandatory for all the new staff to attend an induction program. This has been in practice at my hospital much before it started in most of the corporate hospitals in India. I learnt about this feature during my stints at Hong Kong in the early nineties and I have seen the benefits. People joining my organization clearly get to know what are their objectives and how do they fit in a certain role. That eases my load to a large extent.
When I recruit a new employee, I always make it a point to hold a small meeting with him/her in person. I tell them about my hospital’s vision, our growth, our potential, our areas of improvement and our modus operandi.
It has been such a ceremonial routine all these years for me to start my day with the onset of dawn and at times even earlier. I feel extremely wakeful and fresh even after a sleep of 3 hours. The first thing I do after waking up is to remember my parents. Next I pray to the Almighty to give me strength to render my expertise, without any prejudice, to all my patients and to make their lives better and free of health related worries. I have always found the time of early morning the best for my creative imagination. This is the time when my body is in synchronization with my spiritual being and everything seems
tranquil.
I start my daily rounds usually before 8 AM. At some odd days when I have a surgery planned at that hour, I start my morning rounds very early as I believe that the first rounds of the day should be the most detailed ones. I must say, I have been bestowed with some of the most efficient nursing staff who make this exercise seem effortless. The rounds incorporate examining the patient, asking questions, reviewing lab reports, assessing clinical progress, answering queries, sensitizing about the change of treatment when required, counselling etc. Normally I start taking rounds from the ICU. After attending all the sick patients, I make my way to the general ward. No doubt this ward contains a maximum number of patients.
A lot of my patient base belongs to lower socio-economic strata. Yet they come to me for their treatment. I feel blessed to have done some good karma in my life that I enjoy blind faith of such deprived people. I don’t charge them according to the usual tariff list instead I offer them good discounts. In all my humanitarian efforts, Mr. Ramanand has helped me immensely by bringing in patients to me.
I have always wanted my resident doctors and my staff nurses to keep writing the orders in a scribble pad, lest they get confused or miss a small detail, vital in nature. I have found that good habits never grow old and this time tested measure of writing all the important things works wonders. I also make it a point to check all the case sheets in detail regarding the progress notes, input of vital parameters, fluid balance sheet and status of investigations chart.
During my morning rounds, I make it a point to teach my residents in a clinical setting. In every patient I believe, we have something to learn.
Nothing escapes my keen eyes while on rounds. I take note of every patch of dust on the floor and every crease in bed sheets. I feel bad when a patient complaints that air conditioning in his room was not working properly during the night or that he had to press the ‘Nurse Call Button’ two times before he was attended by someone. I immediately get the matter rectified and try to ensure such incidents are not repeated.
After taking my ward rounds, I head towards the Operation Theatre. I have a very competent workforce in my OT and I haven’t inducted much new faces in this department. I have 2 major operation theatres in my hospital and we start by putting in the cases that have to deal with children first. Obviously any emergency surgery gets priority. On an average we perform about 7-10 surgeries a day. Khetarpal Hospital is widely appreciated as being the centre of excellence for all laparoscopic, endoscopic and bariatric surgeries. I spent a lot of time meeting representatives from various medical companies to imbibe ideas on technical escalation of my hospital. After OT, I take lunch with my team of anaesthetics, intensivists and other surgeons who are present at the time.
I know my patients by their names and have never followed the ritual of naming a patient by his bed number or room number. Patients also like this gesture and develop a trust in your practice which is very important for reaping the optimum clinical results. As my clinical practice spans largely around General Surgery, Urology, Bariatric and Gynaecological Surgery, I make it a point to explain the disease process by making diagrams. By my own experience I have found that when a patient has some idea about the nature of the disease, he is more compliant to the treatment rendered. I have always made it a point to listen to the silliest of my patients’ queries with keen ears and it has helped me understanding my patient’s state of mind in a tremendous way. With the experience of so many years, now I get a gut feeling as to which patient is more likely to throw a particular type of query. It only comes with years of practice when you put a great deal of understanding in communicating with your patients.
One has to be courteous when dealing with the patients. Politeness travels a long way and helps disseminating your reputation to the remotest of places. Well-mannered words are the best emollient to soothe the nerves of your already irritated and depressed patient; so take a leap to travel the extra mile.
What I have learned through years of my experience that one must not make the patients wait for long. Shed the temptation of that freshly brewed coffee, of that nicotine break and of that cat nap when it’s the stipulated time to see your patients; provide your best in reducing the sufferings and that just doesn’t include rendering medical consultation. Behave as if you really care, as if they mean the world to you. I never hide any fact from my patients. be it a fact related to the prognosis, cost implications, disease course, expected duration of hospital stay, or the understanding of fine lines in treatment consent forms. A patient has no choice but to put the faith of his life to you; and you must come out a winner in helping him negotiating his illness in the most transparent manner.
As a doctor it’s our customary duty to remain approachable to our patients. I have not bothered to see the wall clock when For your patient, you are the God personified. Don’t refuse to see any patient who seeks your consultation. Help, just like hope, follows the trajectory of a boomerang. The more you give, the more it comes back to you.