Doctors of Medicine

Wondering what this brouhaha was about surgeons of the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital, I asked a physician at the hospital what it was all about – on Monday September 28. Imagine my surprise she did not know even half the story but said there had been a complaint by Prof A H Sheriffdeen which had gone viral on social media. Thus it was not a major happening. Then a signed, collective letter was sent by the Surgeons of the LRH to the President/ Sri Lanka College of Surgeons, to which person and body the Prof had directed his letter of complaint. The surgeons of the LRH concisely explained all that had happened, saying the boy was operated on and went home. The professor’s letter of complaint was emotive ending thus: “I am writing this as therapy for my depression. The foul taste will not go away. As a Medical administrator once said, ‘Patients will die, it cannot be helped!’” In his letter, the Professor does not mention he is writing consequent to a telephone conversation the father of the child had with him; the father being overseas

Dedicated doctors of the past

Reading the two letters, I was reminded of all the dedicated doctors my family and I have been medically treated by, family meaning my childhood one and my married family of husband and sons..

Kandy residents of long ago will remember the two doctors who had their clinic at the end of the street along which advocates and proctors had their offices and was fronted by St Paul’s Church. Mrs McGill was the ample nurse in starched white dress and triangular cap. Drs Anthonisz and Winn were Burgher but appeared European in dress and demeanour. People respected them. They charged for drugs (liquid always) dispensed by Pharmacist Talwatte. Grandfather would deliver two bags of the best rice at harvest to their homes.

Forties Kandy had one specialist physician – Dr Somasunderam; and Dr Attygalle was surgeon in the Kandy hospital until in the 1950s smart Dr Ivor Obeysekera swept into town with his wife driving her own car – a rarity then in sleepy Kandy town. Then came GPs and later Gyn and Ob specialist Dr Ariyaman Mendis with his new and, to persons like Mother, radical ideas for women who had delivered babies. No lying in bed for them. You had to get out of bed the next day and bath; help with care of baby; and the new born was given nothing for 12 hours. Mother advised dodging the bath until the ‘kola’ bath was had – seven kinds of leaves boiled and the new mother sponged with the leaves and bathed warm with the water. Heavenly!

The best GP in Colombo was Dr Raffel who was available 24X7: in his clinic in Wellawatte for long hours during the day and on call at night. Getting a general practitioner down to the home to see a patient is a mercy of the past. We now have ‘organizations’ which necessitate annual membership for house calls. This service too is appreciated, though a home call costs anything from Rs 3,000 upwards.

Dedicated duo

The doctors Navaratnam living at the bottom of TG Jayawardena Mawata, then Clifford Road, in Kollupitiya, were unique. We adopted them as our family doctors after we took a neighbour’s child who was suffering a fit with high fever. Dr A T Navaratne was home, his wife having gone to deliver a baby. He said he could not treat the child as he was in government service but we could place the kid on the consultation bed to await the return of his wife.

I am eternally grateful to the two of them since they treated us for full fifty years. Dr Vimala was our children’s doctor so she saw them through the triple given to infants and then other shots and colds and coughs and mumps and measles. She even helped with certificates when they applied for higher studies overseas. The doctors charged a very nominal fee and then made it free for all patients. I was bold enough to ask Dr A T why they did not charge from those who could afford it. “We work for a couple of embassies and hotels, so we earn enough.” When he died, Dr Vimala told me, he had no banked money at all.

Dr Vimala was tough, had a couple of stipulations which people sometimes protested against. She was also the recipient of abuse by rabid Sinhalese during times of ethnic disturbance. But never once did they desert their patients or keep their clinics closed. They are both no more and we are so much the poorer, and bereft.

Critics

There are those who criticize the specialist doctors of now. Consultation fees are very high, but the hospitals they hold their consultations in take a good slice off. Most do not charge for a second visit if it is within five days of the first and reports have to be shown.

One criticism is that time does not seem to matter to them and patients have to wait very long to consult them. But some of them are thus due to sheer pressure and load of seeing patients. My domestic underwent laser treatment of varicose veins under specialist Dr Caseem. On her post operation visit, we were scheduled to see the doctor at 9.30 pm. We were informed over the phone it would be later, twice, and finally we consulted him close upon midnight. But all was forgiven when he spoke to patient and carer – so considerate and so humane. He is one doctor who deigns to smile at you when he walks in and sees you in the crowd of those waiting.

Another commonly heard grouse is the battery of tests to be done. In long gone days, diagnosis was by examination and the doctor’s skill and experience coming in to play. A recent letter to the editor mentioned that some specialists order tests that cost much but may not be necessary; doctors are believed to get commissions. Hard to believe, but there are doctors, one must admit, to whom money is everything. One instance was when my brother was advised to take a test and the name of the testing doctor specified. Emerging from the consultation room, he approached a hospital official to find out how to channel the doctor for the test. It turned out the recommended doctor was the specialist’s wife and the test exorbitantly high priced. My brother managed very well without that particular test!

Some specialists have a super bedside manner, others do not talk much. But who wants talk when they are so very competent in their diagnosis and treatment.

 I know a pediatrician and a gynecologist – both women – who keep their phones in hand and answer immediately whether they are partying or traveling or with family. Immediate response to the call, even traveling to the hospital where the call originated at any time of night and day. They agree to a trip or day out if no hospitalized patients of theirs are in serious condition or expecting to be confined.

Just as in any sphere of life there are the excellent, the good and the disappointing, the same applies to doctors. However, if a generalization is permitted, I would say most of our doctor are faithful to the Hippocratic Oath they vow to abide by. I am one very grateful woman!