It was an old trick they used to get away from work.
"Sir, we have a problem. The water supply to the labor ward shuts down once or twice a week regularly" the sister in charge of the labor ward complained to me, while I was taking a round of our patients in that ward.
"That sounds familiar" I said. "Where is the problem?"
"There is enough water in the underground tank. But the inlet of the overhead tank is shut off."
"That is usually operated by the electricians who run the water pump" I said.
"We asked them. They said they were not closing the inlets. Someone else was doing that."
"I know who is doing it" I said. "The servants in the gynecological OT used to do that on my OT day because the operation list used to be big. If they shut off the water, there would be no list. Which meant
they did not have to work. I found that out and got it sorted out. The problem has not recurred for many years. Now one or more of your servants has learned the trick. Call the senior servant. I will talk to him."
The servant was duly called.
"I understand the water supply to our labor ward is shut off by someone" I said. He kept looking at me, confident that I could do nothing to catch the culprit. "The servants in the gynecological OT used to do that on my OT day" I continued conversationally. He kept looking at me. "I fixed that problem. It did not happen again after that."
That shook him up. Fixing gynecological OT servants was no small feat. If I did that, I must be good.
"Now I am warning you and the other servants. If this happens again, I will get DNA analysis done on the inlet valve of the overhead tank. That will catch the culprit. Then I will lodge a police complaint for interfering with work of the civic hospital. You understand the nature of the complaint and the consequences, don't you?"
It seemed he understood the consequences very well. I went away.
"Sir, will you really do that?" someone in the unit asked me.
"Well, no. We do not have funds to do such a test. I have just frightened him. Knowing my academic reputation, he has believed me. They won't do that again. Actually they could have beaten the trap by wearing gloves while doing this, just as they do while cleaning the ward. But he does not know that and I am not telling him."
In the next two months, the water supply to the labor ward stopped only once, but was soon restored. It was either accidental, or they decided to do it just to try and prove that they were not totally beaten.
"Sir, we have a problem. The water supply to the labor ward shuts down once or twice a week regularly" the sister in charge of the labor ward complained to me, while I was taking a round of our patients in that ward.
"That sounds familiar" I said. "Where is the problem?"
"There is enough water in the underground tank. But the inlet of the overhead tank is shut off."
"That is usually operated by the electricians who run the water pump" I said.
"We asked them. They said they were not closing the inlets. Someone else was doing that."
"I know who is doing it" I said. "The servants in the gynecological OT used to do that on my OT day because the operation list used to be big. If they shut off the water, there would be no list. Which meant
they did not have to work. I found that out and got it sorted out. The problem has not recurred for many years. Now one or more of your servants has learned the trick. Call the senior servant. I will talk to him."
The servant was duly called.
"I understand the water supply to our labor ward is shut off by someone" I said. He kept looking at me, confident that I could do nothing to catch the culprit. "The servants in the gynecological OT used to do that on my OT day" I continued conversationally. He kept looking at me. "I fixed that problem. It did not happen again after that."
That shook him up. Fixing gynecological OT servants was no small feat. If I did that, I must be good.
"Now I am warning you and the other servants. If this happens again, I will get DNA analysis done on the inlet valve of the overhead tank. That will catch the culprit. Then I will lodge a police complaint for interfering with work of the civic hospital. You understand the nature of the complaint and the consequences, don't you?"
It seemed he understood the consequences very well. I went away.
"Sir, will you really do that?" someone in the unit asked me.
"Well, no. We do not have funds to do such a test. I have just frightened him. Knowing my academic reputation, he has believed me. They won't do that again. Actually they could have beaten the trap by wearing gloves while doing this, just as they do while cleaning the ward. But he does not know that and I am not telling him."
In the next two months, the water supply to the labor ward stopped only once, but was soon restored. It was either accidental, or they decided to do it just to try and prove that they were not totally beaten.
