A few days ago, a poor family in Srinagar got a taste of what a corporate hospital means and how it operates. A doctor recommended them a corporate hospital in Srinagar for urgent surgery. Unaware of the charges of hospital the poor family was forced to sell their jewellery and other valuables to pay off the costs of surgery. Unfortunately after selling almost everything they still could not settle the whole amount of the medical bills. The result was that the hospital allegedly refused to hand over the dead body till the bill was settled. This is quite common outside Kashmir valley but a due and definite first case in Kashmir valley. The scenes of seeing the family members weep outside the gates of the hospital left many in tears and in calibrated whispers the people began to ask each other how did things come to such a pass that the family members cannot bury the dead unless they settle the hospital bill.
When these corporate hospitals began their business operations in Kashmir they started poaching surgeons and consultants by offering five to six times more salary than what other hospitals were offering. A few doctors left government postings permanently to work as resident doctors in these corporate hospitals. This hospital works on the only lacunae in health insurance schemes and exploits it to the hilt. Like in corporate hospitals outside Kashmir valley the insured patients are prescribed unimaginably high number of blood and urine analysis, ultrasound evaluation and whatnot. In between two patients suffer from the same ailments it is not strange to see the insured patients getting admitted while as the uninsured left for home after diagnosing the patient correctly. While the corporate hospitals outside Kashmir at least are sympathetic towards uninsured patients but the corporate hospitals in the Kashmir valley are having a field day.
A majority of the doctors who continue working in Kashmir are an embittered lot. These doctors feel they were elbowed out by the doctors who went to decorated hospitals in the first world. The doctors continuing to serve in Kashmir feel they are stranded here and are not making enough money. The appearance of corporate hospitals somewhat changed the game. They feel they can earn more here in Kashmir than their peers working abroad. The doctors are forced to toe every line of the management and the end motive becomes to earn more and more capital for the hospital.
Kashmir is waking up to the realty of corporate hospitals. Many among the white-collared who are uninsured would be thinking to get insure their health now. What about the blue-collared work force? The doctors working in these hospitals must treat uninsured patients sympathetically.
A humble appeal to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to personally intervene in the issue and ensure that the dead body of this patient is handed over to the family members without any wastage of time. These scenes have indeed left a bad taste in the mouth. We want private healthcare to improve but not at the cost bringing middle class family families on the road.
