Sufferers Plea To Not Suffer

Sangeeta Sambhi, Keekli Intern

Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), formerly known as Himachal Pradesh Medical College (HPMC), popularly known as Snowdown among locals, located in Snowdown area of Lakkar Bazar, happens to be a state-owned medical college and hospital in Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India. It was established in 1966 as HPMC, and got its contemporary name in the year 1984, which is Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC).

It is a multi-speciality hospital, with the best of erudite doctors, working in almost every field. Not only this, it also happens to hold one of the best machineries equipments, which is seemingly lucrative to over lakhs of students who apply for it, every year, to be enrolled in various UG and PG courses.  It was established with the aim of providing best of quality medical facilities, to not only the ones who hold stateship, but also to various other individuals hailing in from different states, cities, towns and villages pan India. Patients from all income strata, having a geographic variation, are welcomed to be treated. Where some unite willingly, others unite at the mercy of an empty pocket.

But there is one happening, which unites the patients of all kinds. It is the misery of waiting for hours altogether. Young, old, middle-aged, men, women, children, all stand and wait in long ques of first issuing a slip, then submitting it, and at last waiting desperately for their slip number to be called out, in order to show their concern and reduce the pain and suffering they have been carrying along. Problem, does not lie in the treatment, it lies in the unfair practices that start right from the time an innocent patient registers to get a slip.

After analysing the trends at the hospital, the discomfort and disappointment on the faces of the patients is clear. We asked a few patients who were heading towards getting their X-Ray done, they shared that the guards responsible for handling the slips, exploited them into calling out random slip numbers over calling out the names of the people in the order. More or less helpless patients, who came in from far off places, stated that on one side where they were dealing with the misery of travelling through great geographic variation, and income crisis, on the same lapse of suffering, due to the carelessness of the stipulated guards, they were left with no other option, but to re-visit on the days parallel to the schedule of the next doctor.

Not only this, they also stated that the closing time of the radiology department, wherein the X-rays are being done, is closed at 16:00 hours every day. It is noticed that the staff leaves everything in its place and walks off, immediately, leaving the patients at their own mercy of suffering. Clocks keep ticking by and one feels the pain of standing right from 8:00 a.m. in the morning, to 16:00 p.m. in the evening, just to hear that their wait to be treated was nuancedly fruitful. The voices of deprived needs of throes reverberates to be treated.

The above stated analysis is exploratory and qualitative. It deals with the percentage of patients who give in their feedback, disappointed in disbelief, whose expectations of equality and quality of service by the government they believe in, is shattered. There is another burning issue that is oftentimes raised by the senior citizens who walk in for a check-up. It is observed that the staff along with the stipulated guard at duty, misbehaves with the senior citizens. The reason behind this happenstance, is innocent and rightful people, with lost hopes seeking justice, as respect is a far-fetched dream.

By now, it is obvious to analyse for the general public, that the population coming in for check-up, the strata of the population, and the total number of doctors available to treat the humongous population, are distanced by many folds. The gap in the inequality of treatment, favouritism and non-availability of quality services, leads to the population being dissatisfied, the same population goes on to be frustrated, sapping patients’ belief, in the services provided by the government. The incongruous management of patients, leads only and only the sufferer to seek for hobbling justice, languid with multifaceted retrograde cronyism.