Editor,
The Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) is the lone medical college and multispecialty hospital of the state. Every day a large number of patients throng the hospital for treatment of their illnesses, which ranges from simple to serious.
Patients mainly come to the hospital for treatment and to get relief from their pain and agony from their ailments. The TRIHMS has, over the years, made significant progress in provisioning of better quality health services to the people at large and we highly appreciate for its efforts.
However, in recent times, it has been observed that the TRIHMS has adopted an unhealthy practice of locking patients’ vehicles in the parking area for wrong parking. The locking of patients’ vehicles is highly unacceptable as the patients are already under stress and pain due to suffering from diseases and some patients are in hurry to move to other hospitals on referral or for laboratory tests. The locking of patients’ vehicles acts as adding fuel to the fire.
In no hospital across the country are the patients’ vehicles locked in the parking area, as hospital security guards are well placed to regulate the parking of vehicles properly. Further, it has been noticed that the mechanism for resolving of the parking issue in the TRIHMS is very complex, time consuming and painful for the patients.
The security guards ask the patients to go to the 4th floor of the building and submit application to the SMC for getting vehicle unlocking instruction. The SMC is a senior officer and so he remains busy with various work and meeting. So, most often he cannot be reached immediately.
Then the patient is asked to move to the 2nd floor to meet the DMC and then to the security in-charge. This way the patient is made to run from one floor to another to get the vehicle unlocked. The entire process takes nearly half an hour. During this process, if the patient faints or something unfortunate happens, will the hospital authority take responsibility?
Through this article, I want to convey a message to the state authority and the TRIHMS that the practice of locking of patients’ vehicles is unethical and morally unacceptable as it harasses the patients and adds misery to their life.
The failure of the hospital security guards in regulating the parking of vehicles should not be imposed on the patients. Through this article, I would like to extend a few suggestions to the TRIHMS authority in the greater interest of the patients and the hospital.
Firstly, the practice of locking of patients’ vehicles in parking area should be discontinued immediately. Secondly, the mechanism for resolving the parking-related issue should be simple. Parking is handled by security guards and in case of any issue it should be resolved in the security cell located in the ground floor. Thirdly, security guards should be given proper training and instructions to regulate the parking of vehicles in appropriate space.
Dr Ashi Lama
Rajiv Gandhi University,
Rono Hills