Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, October 31
In what doctors and other staff members of the Civil Hospital call irresponsible attitude, several patients after giving samples at the diagnostic laboratory here do not turn up to collect their reports later.
Officials not only call it wastage of resources, money and time as they are already reeling under staff shortage, but also express inability to contain the problem. Sources said it was the typical approach of people that when something was done for free, they would act irresponsibly. As per the government’s policy, 50 types of medical tests are conducted free of cost at government hospitals.
Wasting resources
The government provides free tests, but many of them have started wasting the resources. We will discuss the issue with the lab staff and try to find out a workable solution. —Dr Maninder Pal Singh, Senior medical officer
Sources said on an average, 250-300 patients gave samples, but 80-100 of them never turned up to collect reports. “Not only it is wastage of money, but also time of the hospital staff and that of patients who have to wait in long queues to get tests done and collect reports. Thousands of reports are gathering dust in the drawers of the hospital for years,” a source said.
As per reports, over 8,000 patients have given samples at the laboratory in past one month alone. “It is wastage of money and time as the hospital bears the cost of medical kits, equipment and storage of samples among other things,” the source added.
A doctor said diagnosis was most important before starting the treatment of a patient, but the latter seemed to have taken it lightly. “Patients coming from remote villages, often citing long distance, which they say they cannot travel frequently, ask us directly for medicine instead of giving samples for diagnosis. When we refuse, they agree to give samples, take medicines for a few days till the report is readied and then they simply do not turn up,” he said.
Reports gather dust as patients fail to turn up
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