7-hr swine flu test torture
Getting a swine flu test done at the Civil Hospital is one hell of a tough task
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 03:49:01 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=20090812200908120349011566b8348eb)
The state government claims it is taking all possible measures to arrest swine flu spread in the city— it announced setting up of a special OPD at the Civil Hospital where people with flu-like symptoms could undergo medical screening and testing for H1N1 beginning Monday.
However, if the ordeal of four people who arrived at Civil Hospital on Monday to get themselves checked is anything to go by, the officials in charge of swine-flu check here are not in a position to handle the rising tide of patients.
A lack of communication between the doctors in the swine flu OPD and the patients, saw them waiting outside the isolation ward for a good seven hours before they finally took the screening and flu test. This when there weren’t more than a dozen patients.
“We managed to reach the isolation ward around 10.30 am after roaming inside the campus seeking directions for an hour. And then we waited till 3.30 pm to get the check up done as the testing kits had arrived only then,” says Renuka Giri, 25, who arrived from Pune 10 days ago.
A long wait
A resident of Vasna, she got admitted at a private hospital couple of days ago after she developed high fever and cold. On Monday, Renuka was advised by the doctors to get herself checked at Civil Hospital. She came down with her father Dinesh Goswami, who also suspects he may have contracted the virus from her. “My daughter is so weak, she can’t even walk. We were made to wait till 3.30 pm. The doctors said neither the kits had arrived nor the pathologists.
We did not have water or food till 5.30 pm when the test got over,” says Goswami, who also suffers from diabetes.
Ditto was the case with Sahil Faujdar, a 22-year-old businessman from Satellite, who developed flu-like symptoms after he arrived from Frankfurt on August 2. He was accompanied by his father Parag Faujdar, who is miffed with the attitude of the authorities. “We had to go and meet the superintendent to get things going. It was only after his intervention that my son was tested. In the seven hours that we waited outside the ward, no one informed us about the procedure or when it will begin,” he says adding, “They have not even told us when our reports will arrive.”
No guidance
Sahil was asked by his family physician to consult doctors at Civil Hospital after his condition failed to improve despite medication. He complains that the staff at the G-3 ward did not bother to guide them. “They were clueless what was happening. There was a lot of confusion. We kept roaming from one ward to the other. Around 3 pm, someone told us the kits had arrived at G-3 ward and the tests would be conducted soon,”
he says.“We were around 15 people waiting outside the isolation ward. The staff huddled us in a small room which we later came to know was the OPD where tests were conducted,” he says. As per procedure, doctors screen the patients before deciding whether he or she should take the H1N1 test. After a person undergoes the test, the consulting doctor fills up a detailed health-check form.
“But in my case, the doctor had a fight with someone and went away without taking down my details. After waiting for him for another half an hour, we left the place,” he says.
Rude behaviour
Worse was in store for Natubhai Modi, 58, and his wife Geeta, 56, residents of Vasna. They arrived in the city on July 30 after a six-month stay in Perth, Australia, where their daughter resides. Within a couple of days, both of them were down with high fever, cold and experienced severe body ache.
They consulted doctors at Jivraj Mehta Hospital who advised them an H1N1 check at Civil Hospital. The elderly couple arrived at the ward around 11 am and waited till 3.30 pm only to be told by a doctor that there was no need for them to take the test.
“I am furious. First they make me and my wife wait for six hours and then refuse to conduct the test. This despite a written letter from the doctor at Jivraj Mehta hospital requesting the civil hospital incharge to conduct a swine flu check,” he says.
Geetaben says the pathologists collecting the swabs of swine flu suspects were also furious that people had complained about their absence in the ward to the superintendent M M Anchaliya.
Natubhai even asked the Civil Hospital doctor to give him in writing that there was no need for him to take the test. “When I said that, he asked the nurse to show us the way out. If he is so sure we don’t need the test, why can’t he give it to us in writing?” he says.“I can’t believe this is a hospital. The guys here need to take some lessons in hospitality,” says Geetaben.
Two new cases in city
When contacted, Principal Health Secretary Ravi Saxena said the confusion was due to “the rush of people” and that because “it was only the first day of the OPD”. But our reporter saw not more than 15 people when the swine flu test began on Monday.
Saxena assures that from Tuesday onwards everything will be set in order and that there are enough kits in stock. He said that two new cases of swine flu were reported from the city on Monday. Reacting to complaints that doctors were not conducting flu test, he said: “It will be done on only those patients whom doctors consider as suspects.”
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 03:49:01 AM (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=20090812200908120349011566b8348eb)
The state government claims it is taking all possible measures to arrest swine flu spread in the city— it announced setting up of a special OPD at the Civil Hospital where people with flu-like symptoms could undergo medical screening and testing for H1N1 beginning Monday.
However, if the ordeal of four people who arrived at Civil Hospital on Monday to get themselves checked is anything to go by, the officials in charge of swine-flu check here are not in a position to handle the rising tide of patients.
A lack of communication between the doctors in the swine flu OPD and the patients, saw them waiting outside the isolation ward for a good seven hours before they finally took the screening and flu test. This when there weren’t more than a dozen patients.
“We managed to reach the isolation ward around 10.30 am after roaming inside the campus seeking directions for an hour. And then we waited till 3.30 pm to get the check up done as the testing kits had arrived only then,” says Renuka Giri, 25, who arrived from Pune 10 days ago.
A long wait
A resident of Vasna, she got admitted at a private hospital couple of days ago after she developed high fever and cold. On Monday, Renuka was advised by the doctors to get herself checked at Civil Hospital. She came down with her father Dinesh Goswami, who also suspects he may have contracted the virus from her. “My daughter is so weak, she can’t even walk. We were made to wait till 3.30 pm. The doctors said neither the kits had arrived nor the pathologists.
We did not have water or food till 5.30 pm when the test got over,” says Goswami, who also suffers from diabetes.
Ditto was the case with Sahil Faujdar, a 22-year-old businessman from Satellite, who developed flu-like symptoms after he arrived from Frankfurt on August 2. He was accompanied by his father Parag Faujdar, who is miffed with the attitude of the authorities. “We had to go and meet the superintendent to get things going. It was only after his intervention that my son was tested. In the seven hours that we waited outside the ward, no one informed us about the procedure or when it will begin,” he says adding, “They have not even told us when our reports will arrive.”
No guidance
Sahil was asked by his family physician to consult doctors at Civil Hospital after his condition failed to improve despite medication. He complains that the staff at the G-3 ward did not bother to guide them. “They were clueless what was happening. There was a lot of confusion. We kept roaming from one ward to the other. Around 3 pm, someone told us the kits had arrived at G-3 ward and the tests would be conducted soon,”
he says.“We were around 15 people waiting outside the isolation ward. The staff huddled us in a small room which we later came to know was the OPD where tests were conducted,” he says. As per procedure, doctors screen the patients before deciding whether he or she should take the H1N1 test. After a person undergoes the test, the consulting doctor fills up a detailed health-check form.
“But in my case, the doctor had a fight with someone and went away without taking down my details. After waiting for him for another half an hour, we left the place,” he says.
Rude behaviour
Worse was in store for Natubhai Modi, 58, and his wife Geeta, 56, residents of Vasna. They arrived in the city on July 30 after a six-month stay in Perth, Australia, where their daughter resides. Within a couple of days, both of them were down with high fever, cold and experienced severe body ache.
They consulted doctors at Jivraj Mehta Hospital who advised them an H1N1 check at Civil Hospital. The elderly couple arrived at the ward around 11 am and waited till 3.30 pm only to be told by a doctor that there was no need for them to take the test.
“I am furious. First they make me and my wife wait for six hours and then refuse to conduct the test. This despite a written letter from the doctor at Jivraj Mehta hospital requesting the civil hospital incharge to conduct a swine flu check,” he says.
Geetaben says the pathologists collecting the swabs of swine flu suspects were also furious that people had complained about their absence in the ward to the superintendent M M Anchaliya.
Natubhai even asked the Civil Hospital doctor to give him in writing that there was no need for him to take the test. “When I said that, he asked the nurse to show us the way out. If he is so sure we don’t need the test, why can’t he give it to us in writing?” he says.“I can’t believe this is a hospital. The guys here need to take some lessons in hospitality,” says Geetaben.
Two new cases in city
When contacted, Principal Health Secretary Ravi Saxena said the confusion was due to “the rush of people” and that because “it was only the first day of the OPD”. But our reporter saw not more than 15 people when the swine flu test began on Monday.
Saxena assures that from Tuesday onwards everything will be set in order and that there are enough kits in stock. He said that two new cases of swine flu were reported from the city on Monday. Reacting to complaints that doctors were not conducting flu test, he said: “It will be done on only those patients whom doctors consider as suspects.”
