Early this March, I fell down and twisted my ankle. The incident happened in the afternoon when I was out doing some work. I immediately got some first-aid, sprayed Volini and wrapped a crepe-bandage around the area. Later that afternoon, I reached home and decided to open the bandage. I noticed that my ankle had swollen up like a ball.
Along with my friends, I rushed to Moolchand hospital in Delhi. The following were some of my observations and experiences in the hospital:
1. No Doctor Met Me Before The X-Ray Scan:
On reaching the emergency ward in Moolchand hospital, no one enquired about the injury to my foot. However, I was immediately asked to get an X-ray scan done, even though I was personally sure that I wasn’t suffering from a broken ankle. Unfortunately, there was no doctor nearby to whom I could express my concern. Hence, I had to go ahead with the X-ray scan.
However, later when I read the Ottawa rules, I was shocked.
2. The Payment Gateway Crashed:
I was asked to pay the bill before the scan itself. When I was about to pay the bill, the payment gateway crashed. I could not immediately get the scan done.
Thankfully, a female doctor, who was stopping the staff from overcharging a patient, intervened on my behalf and asked them to perform the scan on me.
However, they would not hand over the X-ray film till they received payment. As a result of the payment gateway crash, services in the emergency ward got delayed.
I spent over two hours in the hospital, of which the X-ray scan took five minutes and the doctor consultation was for two minutes. The rest of the time was spent in paying the bills for these services.
3. Neither Was I Nor A Doctor Consulted For The Planned Painkiller Injection:
After I returned from the X-ray chamber, I overheard an attendant speaking with a nurse on administering an injection to me. On enquiring, they said that they were talking about a painkiller injection. What surprised me about this episode was the fact that neither was I asked whether I had any lingering pain, nor was a doctor consulted when they were deciding this.
4. A Doctor’s Consultation Of 2 Minutes Only:
I had a 2-minute consultation with a doctor who confirmed that it was not a fracture.
Surprisingly, he did not ask me where the pain was located. He also asked me if such an incident had happened with me before. To take a call on my swelling, he enquired about my medical history and how long after the accident the swelling appeared. He told me he was unsure whether it was a ligament tear. However, he asked me to apply ice packs or hot water to the swollen area.
I took hot water baths and also applied hot water bags for three days. Then I came across an article stating the possible ill-effects of such a course of treatment, which should ideally be avoided in the first place.
By then of course, besides spending two-and-a-half hours, I had also paid ₹2100 for a wrong treatment in one of Delhi’s finest hospitals. I came to read all this, because dark bruises appeared on my ankles and I became worried.
I was not informed at the hospital that a damaged ankle ligament causes inflation, swelling and bleeding (which shows as bruising) around the affected joint. I got all this information on the internet.
Even though I am not even sure of the validity of this information, it still satisfies me more than the services I received at Moolchand hospital.
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