Ray's Accident

Yesterday was indeed a sad day for all of us. I received a call on my mobile from Ray's teacher and the moment I heard her voice I knew something was wrong. I could also hear a child wailing behind her - and I realized it was Ray. She informed me that he has been hurt in a fall and is bleeding. I left for the school immediately, but by the time I reached she had already left for a hospital close by. My wife who had reached the school earlier was with her.

At the hospital, although the Doctor's room was bolted I could recognize Ray's voice coming from within. I was close to him but I had no access to the room! His teacher found me outside and said he had a fall and has a deep cut on his face. All I could blurt out was "Is he okay? Is he hurt in the eyes?" and she said no. I knocked on the doctor's door and when it opened I could see Ray on the examination table - as we saw out each other he held out his hand I grasped it and said "It's okay son, Dada is here...". When I saw him I realized that he was hurt and bleeding but it was not serious or life threatening. I also realized that the doctor was preparing to suture the wound. I took a moment to step out of the room to think.

I decided it was best to take him to the hospital that we usually visit. So with their permission of the doctors we transported him to Bangalore Baptist Hospital where he was finally attended to.

My experience with this hospital has never been good and yesterday was no different. This time one of the doctor's in the casualty ward prescribed an antibiotic syrup that is not manufactured!! The medicine is only available in tablet form. Unaware of this fact I went to different pharmacies near my house and even called up the Cash Pharmacy - all of them confirmed that no such medicine exists in the market. What were we to do? This is an antibiotic and we need to give him the right dosage. We then had to make several calls to the hospital to figure out the correct dosage of the medicine that has to be administered.

Earlier in the day the pharmacist had made such a fuss over my payment as I intended to pay by credit-card. All this while Ray is waiting in the casualty ward - and the treatment can only begin once I get the prescribed items! I am at a loss of words to describe the hospital staff's apathy....

We thank God, Ray is recovering well - he seems more energetic than ever.

I am of the opinion the doctor has really been negligent and I have the prescription to prove it. I intend to bring it to the attention of the hospital officials. Any one has any idea on what authority/ agency to approach with my complaint if I don't get a positive response from the hospital??

Please leave your comments on what options I have....

Also do any of you know of a good hospital in the north of Bangalore?