Docs stressed, say there’s no empathy for their work

Docs stressed, say there’s no empathy for their work

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup

Bengaluru:

With the number of Covid patients in their care swelling by the day, doctors in Bengaluru say they are swamped by a mountain of stress. From treating patients to communicating with families and completing paperwork – all the while wearing PPE – the load has increased manifold. In the bargain, they say, there is no empathy for their work.

Dr Kamal Bhalla, internal medicine specialist, Sagar Hospitals, Kumaraswamy Layout, said she, like her colleagues, goes through needless stress. “Working long hours and the fear of carrying the virus back home is always at the back of our mind,” Dr Bhalla said. “Patients don’t realise that Covid wards are not the same as general wards. They don’t realise that the most important thing is their health and that is being addressed. They keep raising demands about food and lack of hot water. Their relatives too keep calling us for these reasons.”

She says many patients and their families think doctors are not doing enough and this is lowering morale in the community.

Dr Satyanarayana Mysore, HOD, pulmonology, Manipal Hospitals, said expectations from patients’ families border on the unrealistic. Dr Mysore is currently overseeing 130 Covid patients and has taken only one day off since January.

“It’s our duty to communicate with the patient’s family, but many people from the same family keep calling us for updates. Our goal is to make a difference to someone’s life, but there are disappointing instances too, despite working hard,” Dr Mysore said.

Having to turn away patients due to lack of beds affects doctors too, says Dr Bhalla. “No doctor wants to lose a patient,” she said. “But deaths are happening daily. That patients are not getting better despite all our efforts stresses us. Some families don’t understand this.”

Front office staff say patients’ relatives do not understand that there is an acute shortage of beds and vent their fury on staff.

One of the hardest protocols, Covid warriors say, is to treat patients while wearing PPE. “A couple of hours after wearing PPE, we feel dehydrated to the core. I don’t drink much water to avoid visits to the washroom. It’s tough especially during menstrual periods,” said a PG medico working in Bowring and Lady Curzon hospital.

Calls made 24/7

A senior doctor at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute says his phone rings non-stop. “The calls are either from patients’ families, influential persons known to them or some VVIPs who are seeking a bed for a friend or relative. For us, all patients are the same. It’s hard to say there is no bed available,” said the doctor.

Victoria Hospital also gets patients with acute breathlessness who have not been tested for Covid. “Every day we get 8-10 patients who might not get a bed anywhere else if they are sent away because they don’t have a Covid test report. We admit them and treat them for Covid-like syndrome,” the doctor said.