Medial service with a difference

Nilratan HalderDoctors at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital have started practising - albeit in a small way - what the father of Western medicine Hyppocrates preached through the oath, named after him, medical professionals are required to take across the world. The top doctors of the hospital have made themselves available between 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm for patients seeking specialised treatment. Although the consultation is not free, it serves a very good purpose because not only are the top ranking physicians usually off-limit to the ordinary patients, an appointment with them takes almost aeons. So the new arrangement for the expert consultants to see patients for a fee of Tk 200 comes as a blessing. Started on October 1, the medical service has already earned unreserved appreciation - and not for nothing - from different quarters. Small acts aimed at serving the humanity begun at some corner has the potential of bringing about a turnaround for the entire nation. The initiative taken at the BSMMU hospital is one such excellent move in that direction. It surely is worth emulating by physicians in other hospitals and clinics. Doctors and hospitals in this country, sadly, have not helped their cause. How and why are questions that hardly need any clarification. People have known it from their own experiences. Should we then consider this move at the BSMMU the beginning of redefining medical profession here and rediscovering its charm? We are not so sure, as some of the esteemed physicians have already indicated that their enthusiasm is sagging because of the clash of interests and timing. They reckon that spending the time in their chambers would have been more rewarding financially. Those not imbibed with the spirit of sacrifice had better opted to quit. It is a completely different world that demands hearts that go out for the ailing humanity rather than heads that calculate the monetary losses and gains. India also saw doctors once neglecting their professional ethics but counting on how to make their pockets deeper. But then they realised their mistake and came up with a totally different approach to their duties and work. No, they have not given up their private practice but what they have introduced in addition to their set pattern is what makes a whole lot of difference. They have made it onerous for themselves to see at least three to four insolvent patients for free everyday in their chambers. There are exceptions where some doctors do not at all charge for consultation. But exceptions are exceptions; we are talking about the average sought-after physicians. How commercialised the medical profession here has become is beyond imagination. A medical student or for that matter any student pursuing higher studies at a public high seat of learning receives quite a good deal of indirect public-money support. For medical professionals, there is an opportunity to return some of the debt they owe to the nation by treating poor patients without fees. Doctors in India have rightly rediscovered the spirit of medical profession. The end result has been rewarding too. Today medical service in that country has, at least in some areas, been competing with the best in the world. Even foreigners come to that land to have certain types of operation packaged within India tour programme. The patient-cum-tourists enjoy both at a cheaper rate. It is this consideration that should be high on the agenda here. So far as the quality of some of our doctors are concerned they can match the demand of the highest standard in the world but where our lacking is so conspicuous is in the area of medical attention, post-operation care in particular. If the doctors everywhere in the country decide to be more mindful to their profession and at the same time forego the fees from poor patients, there is every likelihood of a turnaround in the healthcare sector here. To make the public hospitals comparable with the best maintained private ones, however, there is a need for doing away with the vested interest groups first and foremost. Establishing a chain of command will be followed by a hospital environment that should be considered spick and span by any account. Sure enough hospital management has to undergo a radical change if patients' confidence in the medical service here has to be restored. This done, things will look up and patients will not seek treatment abroad. All we need is a change in the mindset of doctors, nurses, hospital managers or administrators and the people in charge of the directorate and the ministry of health and family welfare. Let the administration and doctors who initiated the move to introduce the evening shift for consultation be commended once again because, we feel, it has the potential of pulling the moribund health sector out of the rut.