If you are following this blog then you already know that I am a senior year student specializing in Nuclear Medicine. For those who do not know what Nuclear medicine is, I will give a brief introduction. Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine where we use radioactive materials to diagnose and treat certain diseases. I have been to both government and private hospitals and today I am going to share my experiences and I am not biased at all.
Sri Lanka is a country where education and healthcare is given completely for free by government. Private hospitals of course you have to pay and some people here tend to believe that private hospitals are easy and better since we pay money and you waste lot of time in ques in government hospitals and those are not good quality either. Even my very own grandmother had the same attitude.
Few months ago I was at the Nuclear medicine unit of the Peradeniya teaching hospital for 2 weeks and it was my very first time seeing a government hospital operating. We had a warm welcome from the staff and they were very friendly. There were around 4, 5 nuclear medicine technologists, 2 nurses , a junior doctor and the consultant. She was a very busy person but she used every second she got to teach us something new. She did lectures and then she taught us almost every scan they did there in detail. Starting from the patients history she explained why the scan showed this and that, what can be done to those.. It was crystal clear.. Not only the consultant madam but also the technologists were very helpful. Do you understand this, do you get this?.. They kept asking and teaching us until we were pros.
She is the best boss and the most responsible person I have seen in my life so far. She takes every single thing seriously. Starting from the injection to reporting she does by herself. Also she closely monitors when the technologists are postioning patients.
At the Peradeniya NM unit they take safety very seriously. The technologist is doing the elution in a fumehood with lead shileding and lead glass shileding, wearing a lead apron, safety goggles, a lab coat and a pair of gloves. They have contamination monitors and survey meters to measure the exposure and every morning and evening they check for contaminations. Even for a little spill they have protocols to follow. Radioactive patients are going out from a separate door and are waiting in a separate area therefore general public do not get exposed.
However the private sector is quite different.. I have a big complaint about their food actually. There were literally no vegetarian options.. So I had to stand for 8 hours just by drinking nescafe.. Oneday there was a pasta, but even that was overpriced. So expensive and no vegetarian options in a major hospital in Sri lanka.. The second problem I had was safety. No separate doors or waiting areas for radioactive patients. Most of them even go to the cafeteria after getting the injection exposing so many other people. I am not satisfied with the radiation protection there at all...I mean no offense, it's okay if the workers don't wanna protect themselves from radiation, that is none of my concerns and therefore I will not comment anything here about it..but the funny thing is they even mock at the government consultants sometimes.
I was so moved by an incident which happened today.. An old couple came and when they heard about the cost they were shocked. With a very sad face he told his wife " Ane, apita echchara salli nane (Oh, we don't have that much money) ".. This is cancer patients we are talking about here. Already miserable, hopeless and helpless. Using their emotional state to get every penny out of them is not acceptable. They are already crushed into pieces.. Their lives are in chaos.. And here some people are taking advantage of it. Some days so much activity remains without patients and it's such a waste.. In peradeniya they use every mCi possible to treat more and more people to reduce the que. If there's some way to use the already paid activity remaining in private sector it would mean so much for people who cannot afford the expensive scans.
So am I satisfied with government hospitals? Yes.. It will take time and a very little or no cost at all, but money is not the problem. The quality of the output you are getting. Will I recommend going to a private place? Nope.. Unless I run out of options I will not let anyone closer to me to go there.
And finally a big salute to Dr. Damayanthi and her staff for their commitment, dedication and their endless kindness towards patients and helping them to build their lives without going bankrupt. Without boasting or degrading others they are silently doing their job saving lives and it should really be appreciated. We love and respect you and your staff madam. Not everywhere we will find doctors like you and you truly are a gem amidst of stones.
However the private sector is quite different.. I have a big complaint about their food actually. There were literally no vegetarian options.. So I had to stand for 8 hours just by drinking nescafe.. Oneday there was a pasta, but even that was overpriced. So expensive and no vegetarian options in a major hospital in Sri lanka.. The second problem I had was safety. No separate doors or waiting areas for radioactive patients. Most of them even go to the cafeteria after getting the injection exposing so many other people. I am not satisfied with the radiation protection there at all...I mean no offense, it's okay if the workers don't wanna protect themselves from radiation, that is none of my concerns and therefore I will not comment anything here about it..but the funny thing is they even mock at the government consultants sometimes.
I was so moved by an incident which happened today.. An old couple came and when they heard about the cost they were shocked. With a very sad face he told his wife " Ane, apita echchara salli nane (Oh, we don't have that much money) ".. This is cancer patients we are talking about here. Already miserable, hopeless and helpless. Using their emotional state to get every penny out of them is not acceptable. They are already crushed into pieces.. Their lives are in chaos.. And here some people are taking advantage of it. Some days so much activity remains without patients and it's such a waste.. In peradeniya they use every mCi possible to treat more and more people to reduce the que. If there's some way to use the already paid activity remaining in private sector it would mean so much for people who cannot afford the expensive scans.
So am I satisfied with government hospitals? Yes.. It will take time and a very little or no cost at all, but money is not the problem. The quality of the output you are getting. Will I recommend going to a private place? Nope.. Unless I run out of options I will not let anyone closer to me to go there.
And finally a big salute to Dr. Damayanthi and her staff for their commitment, dedication and their endless kindness towards patients and helping them to build their lives without going bankrupt. Without boasting or degrading others they are silently doing their job saving lives and it should really be appreciated. We love and respect you and your staff madam. Not everywhere we will find doctors like you and you truly are a gem amidst of stones.
Comments
Post a Comment