Our aim is to ensure care at affordable costs: Jain hospital

By Rithu Dravid | NT

Bengaluru: Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital, Vasanth Nagar, is amongst the best multi-specialty hospitals in the city, and offers a number of specialties such as gynecology, dermatology, urology, pediatrics, ENT, surgery, urology, neurology, nephrology, and psychology, among others.

In an interview with News Trail, the hospital Medical Director Dr (Wg Cdr) M.D.Marker spoke about the ethos behind the establishment of this hospital.

“We as healthcare providers, give medical assistance to each and every patient, irrespective of their class and monetary status. The hospital aims to provide medical assistance at a nominal price. As a charitable trust, no patient walks out of the hospital because of financial constraints,” he said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has physically, mentally, economically and socially damaged the lives of many people and put immense pressure on health systems. While health workers have been lauded for their work, there have been on the rise in cases of violence against doctors. “Almost every doctor is worried about the violence at the workplace. Avoiding such types of occupational hazards and dealing with them needs to be mitigated,” he said.

How do you work to improve patient care?
Hospitals and healthcare systems are businesses that should set high standards in order to attract patients and provide the best quality care. Customers must have a positive experience and continue using the services at the hospital. Ensuring quality care by setting good standards in an organised manner is what we at Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain hospital focus upon. We make sure we look at the reliability and the ability to set high standards to treat patients. These standards dictate the quality of the patients, staff, and the provider. As an accredited establishment that is certified by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH), we work in a particular manner to provide safety and the best health care. We have excellent nursing care, and emergency and trauma services, and the treatment to patients is uniformly provided. The Jain hospital was the first hospital in Karnataka to get the Bureau Veritas Green OT certification. The idea is to make the operation theatres eco-friendly and safe.

How can one strengthen the patient and doctor relationship to stop violence against doctors and take preventive measures?
The violence against doctors is happening not only in India but across the globe. Such situations and aggressive behaviour can be dealt with by following certain trade practices. As a NABH accredited hospital, we follow certain codes that are in place which need to be rehearsed and practiced by the hospitals. Code blue and code pink are usually the frequently used precautionary measures. The team of doctors at the hospital rescues the patients and provides immediate assistance. The action team at the hospital reacts quickly and saves the patient in an emergency.

In case of mob violence, the entire hospital stands together and protects the staff and management. In spite of this, the hospital is vandalized and the doctors are beaten up and doctors and nurses are at high risk of attacks by the violent mobs. This violence may be telephonic threats, intimidation, verbal abuse, physical assault, causing simple or grievous injury, vandalism, and even murder. Medical professionals who face such violence have developed psychological issues such as depression, insomnia, posttraumatic stress, fear, and anxiety. Vandalism and violence in a hospital or a clinic is a criminal offense and any civilised society should condemn such heinous acts. Justifying such crimes is not the solution.

The pre-existing complications in patients and the high mortality rate is the actual reason for the death. This is overseen and the doctors are subjected to blame and thereby violent attacks. The perfect example is Dr Archana Sharma’s suicide which has shook the entire medical fraternity. Any of us can be targeted today or in the near future. Certain local factors such as mob mentality and politicians play an important role in inciting violence which frequently develops into crisis in hospitals. The Karnataka state police notification issued in 2014 states that mob violence in hospitals and attacks is a non-bailable offence. Such occupational hazards need to be addressed with more stringent laws. The Karnataka Medical Council (KMC), is responsible to ensure that health care should be administered in an ethical manner.

How do you see the future of healthcare?
Because of the expansion and advancement of technology, a particular disease can be detected and treated in a patient immediately. The use of medical technology tools safeguards patient safety. Promoting new and emerging so