Waiting....

Dear readers,

     Today, I feel like discussing a topic not directly on health but related to health, nevertheless. The urge to write on this topic came about largely because of the way I've been spending the last few days: in waiting at hospital lobbies.

     Unfortunately, Chennai, which is becoming an internationally acclaimed city for medical treatment, does not have the appointment system in place in most of its hospitals. Some of the leading and well-known hospitals with multiple branches  across cities, have something 'like' an appointment system. You can fix an appointment for a particular day. But the time at which you get to see the doctor is not fixed. Crowding in the lobbies near the receptionist and waiting for several hours in unbelievably crowded waiting areas with scarcely enough seats is very common and considered 'normal'. Quite often, you can see people standing, waiting and fidgeting, nervously eyeing for a seat to be vacated. Patients check the list with the receptionist and their turn umpteen times before they get to see the doctor. Waiting periods of a few hours is very prevalent. 

     I do not know if there is any hospital in Chennai where this is not the case. Eight years back, when I had to go for my pre-natal check-ups in a leading hospital in Bangalore, I was impressed with the appointment system. Except for cases when there was an emergency, I'd get to see the doctor in about 15 minutes. But, in the last few years of visiting hospitals (branches of the same chain of hospitals as I went to in Bangalore) in Chennai, I am surprised that nobody really cares about timing here. A sad state of affairs where the patients' time is not valued!

      Okay, I have accepted my fate and I am now used to waiting indefinitely for the doctor. But, I am also appalled by the conditions in which one has to wait. Insufficient seating, seating very close to doors that are banged open every few seconds with a hit on your legs, a blaring TV with an awful Tamil serial or disgusting songs which you're forced  to watch because of the seating direction and a few outdated magazines of the past decade are the norms. Some hospitals have some area earmarked as children's play-area with totally uninspiring design. A few colourful balls and some plastic toys are thrown into the area which has the capacity for about 4 or 5 children whereas there would be at least 20 children waiting to see the paediatrician.

     In all, a  visit to a hospital is becoming a dreaded affair and invariably, I feel totally exhausted with a headache at the end of the day.

     Doctors and hospital managements out there! Will you please  take notice of this?