THIS CAN HAPPEN: VOLUME VIII
Dr. Gangadhar Sahoo
It was an incidence which occurred towards the fag end of my service carrier. I was the Head of the Department (HOD) Obst. & Gyn. VSS Medical College, Burla. In a busy day in emergency ward all labor tables were full. ECLAMPSIA ward which was under the care of In Charge Staff sister labor ward was also full. Laboring mothers were lying on the floor. More than 70 % cases were serious. With each patient one lady attendant was allowed to stay with the patient. Asha karmis accompanying all patients were also staying with the patients. The role of the Asha karmis was multifarious. They were acting as care giver, service provider, communicator and counselor of the patient. They were more important to the patient than any hospital staff. Therefore they were more powerful too.
The labor ward and ECLAMPSIA ward were overcrowded with machines, Asha karmis and patient's attendants. It was becoming too difficult on the part of health service providers to examine and render service to the patients. During the consultant's visit all had to leave the room for the sake of thorough examination, discussion and planning the line of management.
After the ward round was over I along with my unit members went to the labor ward. One CS was going on in the OT, two in the waiting and one rupture of uterus case was being shifted to OT after blood was arranged. I saw one final year PG student Niru was managing the labor ward alone. Seeing us she was asking all the patient attendants and Asha karmis to vacate the ward. She was the best student of her batch, clinically efficient , theoretically sound and by nature bold straightforward and transparent.
I saw her appealing, requesting ,shouting and in worst circumstances also pushing ,pulling and patting on the back of the attendants and outsiders to vacat the ward. She was being sandwiched by them and struggling to come out , really a scene worth observing. I felt pity for that girl. Any way because of her struggle the ward could be vacated.
After the labor ward round I came back to my residence. Around 1am I got a call from the labor room night sister in charge, “The dean is in the labor room with a local political woman leader and some Asha karmis. They had a complaint against one of the PG students on duty. The dean desires that you should come as the HOD." I came immediately. In the mid of the night the labor room doctors duty room was full. The dean was there. The local woman leader, very much known to me was sitting on a chair next to the dean. All most all the Gynaec PG students and 5 to 6 Asha karmis were there. I could not guess exactly what had happened. The leader started after formal wishes that a 3rd year lady PG student during the evening round verbally abused, dragged and even slapped on the back of an Asha karmi who was accompanying a serious patient. The Asha karmi union was demanding unconditional apology from the PG student failing which they would lodge a FIR and go on a strike. In the mean time the dean left the scene washing off his hands empowering me to solve the problem. When I enquired I came to know that Niru was the PG student. In the evening she was vacating the overcrowded labor ward. That had hurt the Asha karmis who were present there. For them it was a sensitive issue because they were posing themselves before the patient party as doctors. When they were asked to vacate the ward by a PG student, it hurt their dignity and they felt insulted. In that plea they wanted to show their strength with the help of the local woman leader. The PG student association on the other hand became offensive because their friend was accused unnecessarily while on duty by the outsiders. Since I was on the scene I made my observation very clear that Niru was innocent. My comment hurt the local leader and immediately she left the office with Asha karmis threatening the PG students of dire consequences. The PG students did not give any importance to her words and also dispersed. I came back home. It was 5 am .
After finishing my morning routine work , I came to the office with a heavy load of stress. "What will happen if the Asha karmi union lodges a police complaint? What will happen if the PG doctors association goes on strike as a protest ? What will happen if the local political leader takes the upper hand? Hospital is always a soft target for everyone." The PG students had gone to meet the dean ,but he had left for Bhubaneswar on official duty. When contacted he advised the PG students to lodge a counter complaint against the Asha karmis. But that was not the solution. Unnecessarily the PG students will be put into trouble. I told them to stay calm and not to do anything which will add fuel to fire. I will be taking the responsibility. I assured them that what is to be done will be done for the best interest of the institution and the students .So they should not do anything without my permission.
For the first time I saw Niru to become nervous. She was standing in a corner of my office. Other staffs and students were there. I asked Niru to accompany me. I telephoned the inspector in charge and we both proceeded to the police station.
On the way I told Niru to be a silent observer only, not to open her mouth unless I permit to do so. When I entered into the office of the OIC, he welcomed us with folded hands. I saw a sigh of relief on his face. After a few minutes of formal discussion we came to our official business. I introduced my student. He introduced us the leaders of Asha karmis union who were there with a hand written application of their grievances.
Before the inspector or anyone could say anything, I started the discussion putting forth boldly the stand of my PG student and the hospital.
I started with, “What ever happened yesterday had happened in my presence. In the busiest hour of emergency what was done to diffuse the overcrowding in the critical care room was done by the only PG student on duty by my instruction. It was for the best interest of the critically ill patients. There was no other intention. Why a lady PG student ill misbehave a patient’s attendant? Moreover Asha karmis were not in their proper uniform . How could she identify them ? After the round I stayed for one hour. Nobody did any complaint to me. I could have taken care of the issue there. Definitely it was not at all an issue. It was manufactured by a few with some vested interest.Hospital is always a soft target for everyone more so for the petty politicians. I don't know what they will gain by instigating the Asha karmis. Fortunately the hospital emergency is managed by these dedicated, disciplined and hardworking postgraduate students. For needy patients they are donating blood, for poor patients they are spending from their pockets and for innocent & ignorant villagers they are playing the role of their kith and kin. This is for the first time, I am listening such an irrelevant issue. Therefore when the postgraduate student is not at fault, why she will beg unconditional apology. Moreover she has carried out my instruction. It is my responsibility to solve the issue, if the aggrieved party thinks so. If someone who will beg apology then it's me not my postgraduate student. Now the ball is in your court."
All on a sudden the mood of the Asha karmi leaders changed. One of them stood up and said politely, “Sir! We were misinformed. After listening to the fact from Sahoo Sir, we realize our mistake. We should not have taken this step without consulting Sahoo Sir. We beg apology for that. Here we are withdrawing our complaints. "
The matter ended there. "Thank you Sir !" said Niru .
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