"Sir, the new lockers unit is broken" I was told.
"Broken? How?" I could not see how a brand new steel unit of six lockers could be broken by anybody.
"Its one side has come, Sir."
"Let us see" I said, skeptical such a thing could be done by anybody. So we went to the lockers unit in the OT. Its one vertical face on left side had indeed come off. There was a big dent on the side, as happens on bodies of cars in vehicular accidents. I looked at carefully and knew what it was.
"The person who shifts patients on a trolley has banged the side of the unit with the trolley. The patient must have been on it, considering the amount of force that would be required to achieve it. Who was the servant on duty when this happened?" I asked.
"Um... ar... ah..."
They are afraid of naming the culprits, probably afraid of their labor union.
"Send it to the workshop and get it repaired" I said. There would be no point in asking manufacturer to repair it, because the warranty would be void when the damage was not due to manufacturing defect, but negligent use. The engineers kept the unit for a month and wanted us to condemn it.
"I condemn the act that achieved this damage" I said "but I cannot condemn the unit. It is new. If they do not know how to repair it, ask them if it is OK if I get it repaired by an outside agency."
That did the trick. They drilled holes in the side and fixed it to the main body with nuts and bolts.
The following week, there was another occurrence of similar nature. The brand new refrigerator in the labor ward developed three dents. On inspection, it was evident it was caused by patient shifting trolleys colliding against it.
"Perhaps we should shift the refrigerator elsewhere and keep an old one in its place" one staff member suggested.
"We don't need another refrigerator" I said. "We need armor plating for our cupboards, lockers, and refrigerators."
"Broken? How?" I could not see how a brand new steel unit of six lockers could be broken by anybody.
"Its one side has come, Sir."
"Let us see" I said, skeptical such a thing could be done by anybody. So we went to the lockers unit in the OT. Its one vertical face on left side had indeed come off. There was a big dent on the side, as happens on bodies of cars in vehicular accidents. I looked at carefully and knew what it was.
"The person who shifts patients on a trolley has banged the side of the unit with the trolley. The patient must have been on it, considering the amount of force that would be required to achieve it. Who was the servant on duty when this happened?" I asked.
"Um... ar... ah..."
They are afraid of naming the culprits, probably afraid of their labor union.
"Send it to the workshop and get it repaired" I said. There would be no point in asking manufacturer to repair it, because the warranty would be void when the damage was not due to manufacturing defect, but negligent use. The engineers kept the unit for a month and wanted us to condemn it.
"I condemn the act that achieved this damage" I said "but I cannot condemn the unit. It is new. If they do not know how to repair it, ask them if it is OK if I get it repaired by an outside agency."
That did the trick. They drilled holes in the side and fixed it to the main body with nuts and bolts.
The following week, there was another occurrence of similar nature. The brand new refrigerator in the labor ward developed three dents. On inspection, it was evident it was caused by patient shifting trolleys colliding against it.
"Perhaps we should shift the refrigerator elsewhere and keep an old one in its place" one staff member suggested.
"We don't need another refrigerator" I said. "We need armor plating for our cupboards, lockers, and refrigerators."
