I was surprised that they wanted to schedule an operation that day. They had not done any operations on their scheduled day.
"Why are you scheduling one on some other unit's OT day?" I asked the Registrar who had come to take my permission.
"Sir, our unit head had told us not to keep any operations on our OT day. We had sent away all patients we had planned to operate on."
"Why?" I was surprised.
"Our unit head is rather unhappy with all of us" she said with some embarrassment.
"Now he is is not unhappy any more?" I asked.
"Now he had gone on vacation" she said.
"Ah" I said. I remembered he had done a similar thing two years ago, when week after week there would be no operations on that unit's OT day. "What happens to patients who come to you and need operative treatment?"
"Some of them have gone to other doctors for treatment" she said.
I signed the OT request letter she had brought. She went away. I sat there wondering. The doctors must have done something awful to make the unit head angry. Denying them operative work was punishment from their point of view and also from their boss' point of view. But the hospital was for poor patients who needed treatment for their ailments. This denial of operative treatment was adding insult to injury. They were being punished for possible wrong doing of someone else. The boss should operate on all the patients himself. if he wanted to teach the junior doctors a lesson, not deny treatment to the poor patients. I want to see his take on this matter when he resumes duty.
"Why are you scheduling one on some other unit's OT day?" I asked the Registrar who had come to take my permission.
"Sir, our unit head had told us not to keep any operations on our OT day. We had sent away all patients we had planned to operate on."
"Why?" I was surprised.
"Our unit head is rather unhappy with all of us" she said with some embarrassment.
"Now he is is not unhappy any more?" I asked.
"Now he had gone on vacation" she said.
"Ah" I said. I remembered he had done a similar thing two years ago, when week after week there would be no operations on that unit's OT day. "What happens to patients who come to you and need operative treatment?"
"Some of them have gone to other doctors for treatment" she said.
I signed the OT request letter she had brought. She went away. I sat there wondering. The doctors must have done something awful to make the unit head angry. Denying them operative work was punishment from their point of view and also from their boss' point of view. But the hospital was for poor patients who needed treatment for their ailments. This denial of operative treatment was adding insult to injury. They were being punished for possible wrong doing of someone else. The boss should operate on all the patients himself. if he wanted to teach the junior doctors a lesson, not deny treatment to the poor patients. I want to see his take on this matter when he resumes duty.
