Jan 12, 2013 11:19 AM
24687 Views
(Updated Jan 13, 2013 07:17 AM)
I brought my mother here for a fractured shoulder bone. She has CGHS insurance coverage and this hospital recognizes this insurance. As soon as the taxi pulled up at the Emergency gates an Emergency ward boy ran out with a wheelchair. He gave my 75-year-old mother gentle encouragement as she sat in the chair and carefully pushed the chair into the casualty room. The entire hospital was centrally heated in the middle of winter in New Delhi and it felt good.
Everyone in the casualty room was exceedingly polite – the ayah, the ward boys, the nurses and the doctors. They took my mother to the x-ray department in the wheelchair and everyone at that department rushed in to make sure that she was comfortable sitting in front of the x-ray machine.
Right away, they took her back to her comfy bed in the casualty department to wait for the digital x-ray prints to come. As the doctors, nurses and ward boys passed by my mother's cubicle, they nodded at her in friendly acknowledgment – where have you ever seen doctors do this?
After the x-rays showed a fracture, they decided to admit her for surgery. My mother was given a room on the first floor in the Everest Ward. The ayah made her comfortable and spoke to her with such loving care ( every single member of the staff speaks like this at this hospital ). The duty doctor and the nurse came and told her that she could expect to be home in three days and that her surgeon, Dr.Harpreet Singh (who was a shoulder super-specialist with shoulder surgery training in Italy and Korea), would be in to see her at 9 am the following morning.
The surgeon came as promised, told her not to worry and that she would have her old life back in no time. He scheduled surgery for the following day.
The entire hospital is exceedingly clean. There are cleaning people coming in to clean every nook and corner of every room and corridor 10 times a day (other hospitals only clean 3 times a day). There are snack shops and coffee shops everywhere and gardens to roam about in. Everyone is understanding with the visitors and the patients. They aren't bullied and scolded like at other hospitals. Even the ICU guard (notorious bullies at other hospitals) is understanding and lets you in if you have a reasonable reason.
Before surgery, the lady anesthetist came around and had a nice chat with my mother and so did the surgeon. He said that it would be quickly over and invited both me and my mother into the operating theater to have a look. Everything was sparking clean, covered in plastic and high-tech. The surgery began right on schedule, but it took four hours – the surgeon said that my mother's bones were very weak and needed extra work.
My mother was taken to the ICU where all the staff were very friendly. The chief at the ICU even said to me that I did not need to sit outside for no reason all night. Go home, he said, because your mother is doing very well.
My mother was taken back to her Ward 12 hours later and two friendly physiotherapists (called Abhishek and Swati) started to make visits. The surgeon came and said that my mother was healing very well and she could go home the same day.
And that's it – the perfect end to the perfect hospital visit. My mother's back home and going about her life happy as can be. The entire stay was close to Rs.1 lakh by standard rates. We only paid Rs.4131 because of my mother's CGHS insurance coverage.
