Shaukat Ali Jawaid
Members of the medical profession and healthcare facilities get lot of bad publicity in the national press and the electronic media also enjoys maligning and humiliating them but they seldom highlight the good work they are doing looking after millions of patients every day working in highly uncomfortable environment. Here I am going to share my personal experience of a few days stay at Ghurki Trust Hospital a state of the art healthcare facility located on the outskirts of Lahore near the Indian Wagha Border. There was a time that it gave a deserted look and one was afraid of visiting it even during the day but now it has emerged as a small town thanks to the Ghurki Trust Hospital which attracts thousands of patients daily from all over the country.
I wanted to get bilateral knee replacement surgery for my wife who has been complaining of knee joint pain now for many years and was under the treatment of rheumatologist. We also consulted orthopedic surgeon and from time to time had physiotherapy sessions as well. Steroids injecting in the knee did not offer much long term benefit, hence a decision was made to go for knee replacement surgery.
Since a few years ago, I had visited Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital and had a detailed guided round of the facility, was immensely impressed with the state of the art operation theatre suite. Prof. Amir Aziz a renowned orthopedic surgeon who has established this world class Spinal surgery unit at Ghurki Trust Hospital is a dear friend hence I decided to consult him. We went to Lahore for initial assessment and evaluation in the second week of April 2024 with some needed investigations including X-rays. Prof. Amir Aziz was in the Operation Theatre and as soon as he finished the surgery, he was kind enough to come and examine my wife. He called the Anesthesia team, his Registrar Dr. Sabir, the relevant OT technicians and nursing staff and after thorough examination asked us to get admitted and he will operate soon. I asked him to give us some time so that I can also plan, as I had some professional commitments of some scheduled workshops. The anesthetist was very kind, she looked at the whole medical record, all the investigations as the patient being an old hypertensive also had a minor TIA few years ago and remains under the treatment of Prof. Abdus Samad.
The anesthetist asked us to replace Ascard Plus with plain Ascard six days before we plan to get operated. Dr. Sabir made a list of investigations we were asked to get it done before admission to save time. We agreed to surgery in the first week of May. We were told to remain in touch with Dr. Sabir and share the reports as they are available. The whole team was very kind and courteous and we had a great sigh of relief after the consultation.
I never had to contact Prof.Amir Aziz again as we came back to Karachi and remained in contact with his Registrar Dr. Sabir who promptly responded to any queries and was all the time available on phone for any guidance. We got the laboratory investigations besides X-Rays of Knee, Chest, Echocardiography and the reports were shared with Dr. Sabir. We returned to Lahore on Saturday May 4th and got admitted on Sunday May 5th 2024 in the Executive Block of Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital.
We were asked to arrange four pints of blood and arrange the blood donors. When we brought the donors to the laboratory on Sunday, we were told that two donors whose age was more than forty years cannot be entertained. I wish the hospital staff had told us about this before to avoid any last minute inconvenience. However, the laboratory staff offered to help us arrange donors if need be.
Surgery was performed on Monday May 6th as planned. Though Prof. Amir Aziz was not feeling well on that day but he was again kind enough to go ahead with planned surgery. After surgery I was briefed by Prof. Amir Aziz himself and told the routine which was to follow in the next few days. My wife was shifted to Intensive Care Unit where she spent a day before being transferred to the Executive Block. Care in the ICU was excellent and one could see the well trained efficient staff looking after the patients. The visitor’s protocol was strictly followed to avoid and minimize the chances of any infection.
My wife remained hospitalized for five days and I have no word to thank the entire staff and the team. Young energetic Registrar Dr. Sabir was superb who deserve special mention. We had a very comfortable stay and were immensely impressed with the friendly attitude of the nursing staff, efficient paramedics, and the caring physiotherapists both male and female. Room and the washroom was being cleaned after every few hours. What was most impressive was the communication with the patient by most of the caring nursing staff members in particular two nursing staff were so caring that every time they came with a smiling face and greeted my wife just like daughters will take care of their mother. My wife was also very much impressed with their attitude.
That reminds me that if we start giving due respect to the nursing staff, look after them and be affectionate, girls from the affluent class will also be willing to join the nursing profession. It is the quality of care that over two dozen rooms in the Executive Block are most often remain fully occupied and at times patients have to wait for admission here. Above all we were most often fully involved in decision making regarding the care of the patient from admission to surgery and during post-operative care at the hospital. Most complaints against the healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities are not about their intelligence, competence and expertize but the way they communicate with the patient and the attendants.
Neat and clean environment in the hospital was very impressive. Air Conditioned Hospital Cafeteria provides excellent food in a very hygienic environment at highly subsidized charges. The hospital staff from nurses to paramedics to consultants all enjoy food here and there is no separate arrangements for any one. For me this was no less than a miracle and we used this facility extensively during our stay at the hospital. Being a keen observer I did give my feedback to Mr. Naeem Ghurki the Chief Executive of the Hospital and Prof. Amir Aziz as well that hospital staff must inform the patients and their attendants beforehand about the age of prospective donors and they should also be informed that it may take at least two to three hours hence the donors should keep this in mind while coming for blood donation. It is particularly important since the hospital is located far away from the city and it may not be possible to arrange donors quickly.
However, my daughter Prof. Nazish Imran who spent five days in the hospital as an attendant looking after her mother had a bit different observations. She felt that while some of the nurses and paramedics were extremely friendly, a few others were a bit different. Secondly, whenever a call was given to some other department, doctors who came to attend the patient, just looked at the file, made some note and did not bother to talk to the patient or the attendant to inform them of any developments which did increase their anxiety particularly since the patient was an old hypertensive who also had a minor TIA some years ago. The situation, she says, is unfortunately worse in public sector hospitals in such situations.
I think the visiting medical staff who were called for some opinion were not aware of the fact that the patient is mother and mother in law of six consultants and the attendant herself was a Professor in a medical Univesity and they had different expectations. Even otherwise most of the patients don’t have much knowledge about the disease hence doctors feel there is no need to brief them. Patients are also hesitant to ask any question to the doctors and if some do ask, the response from the healthcare professionals is most often not friendly. Hence this is yet another area which needs some improvement.
However, on the whole our satisfaction level while at GTTH was much better and we believe we got the best possible care for which we are grateful to the entire team. During these five days I also got an opportunity to visit various sections of the hospital again, the emergency, X-Ray department, Laboratory, general wards, emergency ward, Out Patients Departments, physiotherapy section to have firsthand information of the services being provided. There was always great rush in the Emergency as trauma cases from everywhere come here and they are promptly entertained. When my wife got discharged we were given complete record with all the details of investigations, drugs used from the pharmacy and service charges with complete detail, a comprehensive computerized bill which is again not the routine practice even in some private hospitals.
The hospital does pass on some discount on drugs and other disposals to the patients which they get from the suppliers. Though Ghurki Trust Hospital established by Ghurki Family is a general hospital with all the specialties but it got real name and fame because of the world class Spinal Surgery Unit which attracts patients not only from all over the country but overseas as well. GTTH is again the second healthcare facility in Paksitan offering Cyber Knife surgery for cancer free to the needy and deserving patients. There is no dearth of God fearing, kind hearted donors and philanthropists in the country and with their help many healthcare facilities are functioning in Paksitan benefitting millions of patients, Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital is one of them. I also had a chance to attend one of their Fund Raiser dinner at Lahore some time ago.
What impressed me most was the fact that Prof.Amir Aziz and his team has successfully developed a system which functions well. It is not the personalities but the system which matters at the end of the day and having developed a system is one of their greatest accomplishments. When I talked to some senior healthcare professionals about our experience at GTTH, many of them were surprised and I found they were quite ignorant about the facilities this hospital offers. Some of them might have visited it many years ago and I will strongly urge them to visit it again and see how devotion, dedication of the team running and managing this hospital has made a difference.
Keeping in view the large number of patients who visit this facility and OPDs, it is quite likely that some of them might also face some problems and difficulties. It is not at all possible to satisfy completely every patient. In order to ensure that the donor’s money is spent judiciously, the welfare department has to take extra precautions before selecting patients for treatment from social welfare funds. My wife spent two months in Lahore after this surgery and has now returned to Karachi and we have arranged for home visit by physiotherapist which is important for complete rehabilitation and recovery and we are delighted at the progress so far.
My only request to those visiting any hospital either public or private is that please make sure that you behave like a patient, don’t try to rush and let the hospital staff do their job as for them every patient is important, hence wait for your turn to be entertained. Thank You Prof. Amir Aziz. Allah Bless you and your team.
The above may not be true for every healthcare facility in Paksitan even for many private five star hospitals and we come across stories every day how the patients are fleeced. My request to them is to be kind, helpful to the patients, uphold professional ethics and fully involve the patients and the family in decision making about the treatment. This can avoid many unfortunate incidents which happen at various healthcare facilities quite often.
