Banerjee's Head on the Chopping Block

Banerjee carries the title of Medical Superintendent (CEO) of this hospital but a better title would be the Hospital Firefighter. He runs around with a fire extinguisher tied to his back, dousing the flames here while another fire starts elsewhere.

The latest disaster to strike the hospital is the news report in the photo. A poor patient was injured in an auto-accident. He was taken to a nearby hospital but the hospital refused to admit the patient claiming they had no ICU beds available. He was rushed to another hospital which was  supposed to be a trauma center. They refused to admit him saying that they did not have an ultrasound machine and the patient needed an ultrasound. They probably have developed a sophisticated system of refusing all the poor patients with one reason or the other. The patient was then brought to this hospital where the newspaper says he was refused admission because he did not have the correct papers. The patient died in the parking lot.

The chief minister of Delhi has promised a full inquiry and punishment for all of the people responsible for the poor care given to the patient. So I am sure Banerjee is going to have to see the chief minister and make a statement to the press, to douse the flames.

I do not know what happened in the Casualty of this hospital. The initial newspaper reports are frequently misleading in India because the reporters are so untrained. They do not even try to get the  facts from both sides. They just print what one party claims. It is possible that the patient died in the parking lot of this hospital before anyone had time to see him.

But on the other hand, the training of the doctors in the Casualty is pathetic. They only have MD degrees and one year of internship as the required qualification. The internship in India is more like externship of medical students of USA. So essentially a Casualty Medical Officer may have no emergency training at all. There is no advanced training programs in Emergency Medicine in India. When I was in Casualty I saw some real sub-standard care by the doctors. They also appear so unconcerned with the pain and suffering of the patients. I guess prolonged exposure to extreme conditions desensitizes you otherwise you will not last.

Anyway Banerjee's head has been on chopping block several times. One of these times the axe may not miss!