Demons in the guise of god "Apollo"
This is the story of a hospital management, which does not care a hoot for medical ethics or patient care.
To Apollo Hospital, Colombo, what matters is ``wallet biopsy,'' since fleecing the public is their unwritten motto. The management even has the brazenness to charge from patients for tests, which have never been done.
The latest victim of Apollo cussedness is my husband Channa de Costa, an executive of a leading multinational company. He was admitted to this so-called hospital on July 6, 2006 with a history of acute cough and cold, chest tightness followed by breathing difficulty. After we consulted Dr. Praveen Gupta - Pulmonologist - the patient was given bed No.6006. He was discharged on July 8, after two days of treatment.
Before his discharge, on July 7, blood samples were taken from him for various tests. But none of these were given even on the day he was discharged. At the time of his discharge the ward nurse mentioned that the test results would be available for collection only on July 9 and the filarial antibody tests would be available in a week's time.
However on July 10, as Channa was again experiencing chest tightness, I phoned the Apollo Hospital and made an appointment to see Dr. Gupta. I showed him the medicine, which the hospital nurse had given the patient on the doctor's prescription. I did it merely to cross check whether the hospital had given my husband the correct drugs since we were not sure whether the nurse had made a mistake. Dr. Gupta's not-so-polite response was that he was only a consultant and it was not a part of his job to check the medicines (even though he had prescribed them). He told us to go to a pharmacy to check the medicines. His consultancy fee per visit is Rs.1000!
Since my husband was continuously complaining about his chest tightness, we then consulted a cardiologist, Dr. Tripti Dep who wanted me to collect his blood reports, which were supposed to be ready for collection on July 9. The doctor said that she could not proceed without the reports.
However at the collection counter we were told that they had received no such reports from the laboratory and wanted me to return the next day (July 11) with my husband. This information totally contradicted what the ward nurse told us at the time the patient was discharged from hospital. After I mentioned this fact,
The staff at the collection counter crosschecked with the hospital laboratory and found that it had received no such blood samples from the relevant ward on July 7th. Thereafter the Executive Operation (bearing employment No.1820) Ms. Vedavthi wanted my husband to give fresh blood samples and assured us that she would do the tests within 30 minutes, whereas earlier we were told that such tests needed more than three days.
When we complained to the hospital's Assistant Vice President Dr. Rana Mehta, Nursing Director Ms. Costa and the Matron their response was that Dr. Praveen Gupta had never prescribed the taking of blood samples( even though it has been originally prescribed by him), which Dr. Tripti wanted to be taken. The three of them claimed that the whole matter was a technical error on the part of the nurse on duty at the time. However when we asked them give the same answer in writing they refused to do so.
To add insult to injury Mrs Costa (Director Nursing) has already billed us for the missing blood samples too, despite our pleas to which she responded with foul language. When we were leaving they shouted, ``you go to town and shout at us but it will have no effect on our hospital!''
This whole episode is clear proof that this `hospital' has a nursing staff, which has not received even basic training.
We have already made a complaint to the Narahenpita Police on this matter.
In Greek mythology Apollo is a god. But in this supposed hospital it means demons!
This is the story of a hospital management, which does not care a hoot for medical ethics or patient care.
To Apollo Hospital, Colombo, what matters is ``wallet biopsy,'' since fleecing the public is their unwritten motto. The management even has the brazenness to charge from patients for tests, which have never been done.
The latest victim of Apollo cussedness is my husband Channa de Costa, an executive of a leading multinational company. He was admitted to this so-called hospital on July 6, 2006 with a history of acute cough and cold, chest tightness followed by breathing difficulty. After we consulted Dr. Praveen Gupta - Pulmonologist - the patient was given bed No.6006. He was discharged on July 8, after two days of treatment.
Before his discharge, on July 7, blood samples were taken from him for various tests. But none of these were given even on the day he was discharged. At the time of his discharge the ward nurse mentioned that the test results would be available for collection only on July 9 and the filarial antibody tests would be available in a week's time.
However on July 10, as Channa was again experiencing chest tightness, I phoned the Apollo Hospital and made an appointment to see Dr. Gupta. I showed him the medicine, which the hospital nurse had given the patient on the doctor's prescription. I did it merely to cross check whether the hospital had given my husband the correct drugs since we were not sure whether the nurse had made a mistake. Dr. Gupta's not-so-polite response was that he was only a consultant and it was not a part of his job to check the medicines (even though he had prescribed them). He told us to go to a pharmacy to check the medicines. His consultancy fee per visit is Rs.1000!
Since my husband was continuously complaining about his chest tightness, we then consulted a cardiologist, Dr. Tripti Dep who wanted me to collect his blood reports, which were supposed to be ready for collection on July 9. The doctor said that she could not proceed without the reports.
However at the collection counter we were told that they had received no such reports from the laboratory and wanted me to return the next day (July 11) with my husband. This information totally contradicted what the ward nurse told us at the time the patient was discharged from hospital. After I mentioned this fact,
The staff at the collection counter crosschecked with the hospital laboratory and found that it had received no such blood samples from the relevant ward on July 7th. Thereafter the Executive Operation (bearing employment No.1820) Ms. Vedavthi wanted my husband to give fresh blood samples and assured us that she would do the tests within 30 minutes, whereas earlier we were told that such tests needed more than three days.
When we complained to the hospital's Assistant Vice President Dr. Rana Mehta, Nursing Director Ms. Costa and the Matron their response was that Dr. Praveen Gupta had never prescribed the taking of blood samples( even though it has been originally prescribed by him), which Dr. Tripti wanted to be taken. The three of them claimed that the whole matter was a technical error on the part of the nurse on duty at the time. However when we asked them give the same answer in writing they refused to do so.
To add insult to injury Mrs Costa (Director Nursing) has already billed us for the missing blood samples too, despite our pleas to which she responded with foul language. When we were leaving they shouted, ``you go to town and shout at us but it will have no effect on our hospital!''
This whole episode is clear proof that this `hospital' has a nursing staff, which has not received even basic training.
We have already made a complaint to the Narahenpita Police on this matter.
In Greek mythology Apollo is a god. But in this supposed hospital it means demons!
