Dec 03, 2013 11:06 AM
39167 Views
(Updated Dec 03, 2013 11:12 AM)
We lost our baby recently and what really hurts is the fact that it was due to complete negligence and lack of post-surgical care at NH Hospital.
Prior to the incident, I had lot of respect for Devi Shetty and NH institution but this nightmarish experience of one and a half months at the Hospital has left it in tatters.
Firstly, we were numbed by the apparent words and demeanor of the pediatrician, Dr. Parimala P.Nath (she is the one who decides whether the baby is physically fit for surgery) .
Post-surgery and after 6 days in the ICU, our 1 month old baby was shifted to the ward where we found that he was not taking the feed as before and was coughing a lot. When I reported the same to Parimala her reply stunned me. To quote her 'How can you expect the baby to take milk without sugar?' I politely replied that he used to take milk without sugar before but she cut me short saying that you cannot expect babies to take milk without sugar when adults don't.
To put an end to the pointless discussion, my mother just said that we take milk without sugar and pat came back Parimala’s reply 'Your family may be diabetic and that is why you do not prefer sugar!'. The next day I again noticed that the baby was not feeding and when reported the same to the doc, she heartlessly replied 'I will shove in the pipe if your baby does not feed!'. The whole time instead of exploring the root cause as to why the baby was not feeding, Dr. Parimala was busy in putting us in our place.
Three days after the above incident, the baby got completely di-saturated and his heart beat was not normal and then he was shifted back to the ICU. For about 10 days, each doc in the ICU kept saying differently. One doc said he has lung infection, another doc said lung and blood infections and end of the 10th day they said he has wound, lung and blood infections.
After few weeks, our dearest baby lost his fight and I would lay the blame squarely at the abject apathy and lack of responsibility of NH and some of its staff. There were few of the staff members who were genuinely concerned and helped us but their efforts were negated by the negligence of some of their colleagues.
NH has good surgeons but it lacks post-surgical care, well trained nurses, insufficient stuff, very high chance of infection and lack of correct communication.
*These are few grave lapses that I observed at the hospital –
1> No inclination to treat babies at the initial stage instead the docs get involved only when the kid gets serious.
2> The nurse takes care of 2/3 babies at the same time. Its mandatory at NICU3 to have one nurse against each Baby. As the nurse handles 2-3 babies, it’s easy for the infection to spread.
3> The nurse was not around when our baby was de-saturated at the ICU. When I saw him during the visiting hours his condition was very bad and I had to rush to the docs asking them to treat him.
4> The extracted breast milk is fed to the baby even after 6-8 hrs (refrigerated milk can be fed and not the one that is kept outside at room temperature). When I communicated the same to the duty doc (senior) at the ICU, I was shocked by his response - he said the mother’s milk can be stored at room temperatures for 24hrs and fed to baby.
5> I've not seen any of the nurses washing their hands in the ICU/ ward in spite of the announcements being made every few mins.
6> I had seen a baby which had heart surgery performed and was in ICU for 2 months. The baby caught dengue while in ICU. This shows the hygiene of the ICU.
7> Lack of communication and mismanagement
8> NH is like a govt hospital and if the kid survives its only due to your good luck.*
