No succour: If in pain, wait for your doctor

PIMS gynaecologists refuse to treat colleagues’ patients seeking emergency care.

ISLAMABAD:

Patients visiting the emergency ward of the gynaecology department of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) during the night are usually made to suffer if their doctor isn’t available.

Among many such patients is Amna Bibi* who came to the emergency ward from Tarnol at 11pm on Sunday night. She had a Caesarean two weeks before and had her stitches removed last week which resulted in some complications.

“I was suffering from severe pain and wanted the doctor to prescribe a painkiller so that I could spend the night comfortably, but after she learnt I wasn’t from her unit, she refused to listen to me.”

Amna went back home and spent two nights in unbearable pain and had to come to Pims on Tuesday morning to see her gynaecologist.

“I don’t understand why they have established an emergency ward when they don’t facilitate patient seeking emergency care.”

A gynaecologist who wished not to be named said that senior doctors in the gynaecology department have their own units. “They don’t treat other doctors’ patients to avoid being held responsible if something goes wrong.”

Dr Javed Akram, vice chancellor Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Medical University, Pims said, “I’ve asked all doctors on duty in the emergency ward to consult the concerned doctor on the phone or if it is an emergency to call them in.”

He felt it all happened due to miscommunication and he will ensure that the hospital administration should place such information in the emergency ward to avoid such incidents in future.

*Name changed to protect identity

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2014.