Some concerns in the interest of doctors and patients
I write, both as a senior citizen and an elderly patient, about a well known chain of hospitals in Colombo.
It is with great concern and absolutely no malice towards the management, but totally in the interest of the public who flock to these hospitals, be it for laboratory testing, consultation of visiting consultants, as well as the patients who are admitted to the hospital that I make these observations. I and many others wish these hospitals to continue their services, but it is my duty to bring some failings I have noticed, to the management for early rectification, so that we could visit these hospitals without any fear especially during these trying times.
Two elderly patients I knew, who were discharged, as well enough to go home, developed very bad chest infections the very next day and had to be treated again at home. The doctors who saw these two patients concluded that both of them picked up the new infections in the hospital wards.
The nursing care has deteriorated visibly to a point that the nurses have become lax in their daily routine in the care of their patients. Also it was noticed that student nurses were used to administer medicines without the supervision by an accompanying qualified nurse.
In these days of a very virulent strain of the COVID-19 virus spreading very rapidly within the community, my own concerns have increased a hundredfold. It is well known that a number of consultants have contracted the disease and have had to be quarantined. One wonders if there is a certain laxity in the screening of the patients who come to see the consultants. Also, the facilities that are available to the doctors both in the interest of the patients’ safety as well as their own wellbeing, are not inspected and rectified as and when necessary.
Also, it is a well known “secret”, that over 60 nurses have had to go for quarantine, for suspected exposure to the virus. The serious issue is that the doctors have not been informed of the potential risk to themselves as well as their own patients. The doctors should be warned so that their own patients could be informed of a potential risk, so that they could make their own risk assessments, and still come if absolutely essential.
Transparency is vital at this critical moment. Concerned citizen Via email