Ever since the Supreme Court brought the patient-doctor relationship under the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act in 1995, the number of complaints against doctors has gone up. But in the absence of information, no one really knows how many such cases occur. Also, the law does not clarify the difference between “gross negligence”, ‘error of judgement”, “accident” and “recklessness”.
Mistake, Mishap, Mischief, call it what you may, the sacred covenant of trust inherent in the doctor-patient relationship is starting to crumble.
The 10 most common lapses that doctors across the country believe the medical fraternity needs to guard against and what needs to be done:
OBJECTS SURGEONS LEAVE BEHIND INSIDE PATIENTS
What Surgeons Forget– The most common medical blunder In India. Scissors, gauze, towels, screws, forceps, metal clamps–the list of objects Surgeons leave behind inside patients bodies is alarming.
Prescription (Remedy) Apart from stricter laws to penalise offending surgeons and heavy compensation for patients, hospitals need to streamline operation procedures.
COSMETIC GOOF-UP
Don’t treat a nose job or a breast augmentation as simple lunch-time procedures. These are real surgeries with the real risk of disfiguring your patient forever.
Prescription–The National Medical Commission of India (NMC) must blacklist quacks and de-recognise such surgeons, patients need to be empowered with information on safety standards.
REMOVING WRONG PARTS
Doctors Amputating the wrong foot or removing the wrong kidney-hundereds of such surgical gaffes occur every year.
Prescription–
Apart from criminal action against rogue surgeons and hospitals, the NMC should cancel licences of the doctors involved. Also upgrading the checks in place for such operations is the urgent need of the hour.
NOT ENOUGH ANAESTHESIA –
Waking during surgery and feeling pain without being able to cry out. Not just a horror-movie staple. They do happen in reality.
Prescription–
Make it mandatory for hospitals to install hi-tech monitoring devices, like the bispectral index , that enable doctors to know the depth of consciousness in a patient during an operation.
DANGEROUS DELAY
Most hospitals are not mobilised to provide timely care to patients. One can watch a game of 20-20 cricket in the average pain-to-drug time-frame in India. At a hospital a patient on an average, wastes 50 minutes to get treated, compared to a waiting time of 20 to 30 minutes in the developed world.
Prescription– Hospitals must have well-equipped and functional emergency wards and must provide ambulance services with lifesaving equipment and a doctor on board.
UNNECESSARY DRUGS
Overuse & Misuse of unnecessary drugs. International norms are flouted as banned, untested and untried combinations do the rounds in India.
Prescription–
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation must clamp down on misuse of untested combinations & penalise offending doctors and pharmacies.
ENDLESS TESTS
The days of the doctor who detects disease in the patient’s appearance, gait & pulse, well before ordering a test are almost gone. For patients it means spiralling costs.
Prescription–
Though a certain amount of testing is essential, the Health Ministry should break the unholy nexus that often exists between diagnostic centres and doctors.
SECONDARY INFECTIONS
Ask any doctor about hospitals and they will tell you one thing, keep away from them. Infection spread from hospitals is rampant in the country.
Prescription–
Regulating authorities must enforce sanitary norms, including sterilisation standards and cancel the licences of offending hospitals.
BAD HANDWRITING
A popular joke, but a serious problem. A fourth of all medical errors are due to illegible prescriptions. The risk of getting a similar-sounding but wrong drug is far too real.
DRUG DEPENDENCY
Something hurts? The easy way out for a doctor is to send you off with a painkiller. Sleeping pills and anti-depressants are heavily over-prescribed across the country.
Prescription:
Strict regulation of chemists by CDSCO to ensure sale of drugs only with prescriptions and spread awareness among patients about dangers of self-medication.
(Dr Naresh Purohit is Executive Member- Federation Of Hospital Administrators. The views and opinion expressed in this article are those of the author)