Patients & Visitors

• Excellent security arrangement.
• Restricted visitors’ entry
• Overall cleanliness despite the heavy crowd of patients for consultations
• Generally courteous service of staff around
• Good canteen facilities
• Doctors free communication with the patients and their attendants
• State-of-the-art diagnostic services

While the above list is a list of general observations, the outstanding features are the following

• Availability of a Ace Surgeon Dr. Barry (for knee replacement) whose deft handling of the cases is nothing short of a magical touch! My wife has decided to have her next surgery for the right knee done in January 2013 but only if she is assured of the magical touch of Dr. Barry!! His most humanistic approach to patients was evident when we happened to see him in the interior pathway during one of the reviews when he instantly recognized my wife and when she chose to have an informal consultation in the pathway itself! Unreservedly he did check her on spot and prescribed some tablets also, all with a smiling face like a Good Samaritan! As one who had only spinal anesthesia, my wife vividly remembers the happenings inside the operation theatre and very often shares it with me and our son: that Dr. Barry was so very informal with everyone around even joking sometimes. A Doctor of his stature can be extremely formal and still command respect from his team but he is a rare specimen who does not believe in that. In the subsequent scheduled consultations too never has he shown any tendency to drive the patient away as quickly as possible.

The worth of the buildings in the hospital complex can be evaluated in terms Rupees or U S Dollars but invaluable being the worth of Dr. Barry, the buildings will just be worthless in His absence.

• Another invaluable support the hospital has is the service of the two PROs – Ms.Guilan and Ms. Janes. It is understood that as PROs, they are supposed to be having lot of charisma. In most cases, for people in that role, that such a charisma is so very artificial would be obvious from their behavior and attitude itself whereas in these two cases, one cannot see anything but a sense of commitment in their behavior and attitude – from their concern for patients’ requirements, from their abilities in handling patients’ enquiries/doubts, from their ability to recognize the past patients instantly in a place where hundreds visit every day. When I checked for review appointment over phone early this week, it so happened that the call got routed to Ms. Guilan and the moment my wife’s name was mentioned, the lightning response was, “How is she? Last time you said she had been having continuing pain?… if you want to consultant Dr. Barry, please rush immediately as he is available today in the morning hours”. Her response did not just stop there, before our reaching the hospital, she had spoken to Ms Janes and when we did reach, Ms. Guilan was not around but Ms. Janes who saw us last time about 2 months ago, instantly recognized us and literally drove us into the consulting hall saying that we could pay for it after consultation. She herself got the consultation number for us. It was like boarding an aircraft at the nick of the moment, otherwise we would have missed Dr. Barry on that day.Generally, at their level, misunderstanding between two staff members in the same cadre would be very common but in their case, the kind of understanding they have and the level of coordination in the discharge of their duties make them unique.

  The Hospital Management should note to recognize them well as both of them also are rare assets.

I may not have been truthful in this testimony without the following negative observations that do not defy rectification:

• When my wife was removed to ICU ward after the surgery, for want of space she had been provided bed in a place which was not that clean, being close to a wash-basin and the storage area. My wife was disturbed at the sight of the environment. Of course, when our son took up the matter with the duty Doctor, she was removed to a good place. We regretted the need for such a request. While such constraints are quite common, those in charge should at least ensure that the environment is neat and clean.
• While it is good that food is served to patients and their attendants in the hospital itself, the recurring problem we had was items served did not conform to our specified requirements. Understandably, there was not much of a coordination between the one who took indent for food and the caterer. This is another aspect to be looked into.

In fact, I should have sent this testimony long back but my son who was here from the U.S. to be of help to us and who was himself an attendant at the hospital during the 1 week stay of my wife desired that he would himself send this mail after returning to the U.S. However, as it invariably happens, after he returned, he became so much tied up with his work, he did not find even breathing time for writing this mail and so finally requested me to do it from here after showing the draft to him. I have done this as desired by him and I need not add that this mail has been perfected by him as his experience in the hospital is more than mine.

In a way, I am also glad that I have delayed it by a few months for in many cases, service during the period of stay in the hospital may be very good but post-surgery service (like post-sales service) may leave much to be desired in most of the hospitals. So, this cooling off time (free from the emotional experience during the stay in hospital) has enabled us to make a perfect evaluation of the post-surgery service also.

After all, in modern days, hospitals are verily in sellers market and there is no dire need to be so very punctilious about post-surgery service – if ‘X’ does not have the next surgery done here, ‘Y’ will come for his/her first surgery and the wheel will keep on moving as there is no dearth of patients anywhere in India!

We wish that MIOT not only claims to be a pioneer in this field but very soon claims to be a ROLE MODEL also in this industry!