ECHS: Doctors must be exhorted to maintain records

ECHS Doctors due to heavy rush of patients in the Polyclinic seldom maintain the detailed health records. Now doctors have the technology to assist them. A general practitioner sees patient for all ailments and hence must maintain communication with the patient. If a veteran comes to a doctor with symptoms such as loss of appetite and general disability, the doctor should conduct full investigation from head to toe and then prescribe medications and recommend suitable diet.

Doctors should not resort to intelligent guess work (on hit and trial basis) as a short cut and prescribe over two dozen medications with the fond hope that at least one of the drugs will act! This typically helps the uneducated who feel satisfied with over doze of medications. A good doctor is one who prescribes the right medicine to cure the sickness or disease and not certainly by guess work!

The medicines prescribed in ECHS for the old and elderly is generally a long list which takes the dispensing staff more hours to answer questions relating to multiple dosage and identification of drugs meant for which ailment.

Another is the language barrier. All notices are in English whereas hardly a few of the Veterans and dependents can read English. Notices should be preferably in the Mother tongue of the Veteran or in Hindi. Notices should be minimal and not to fill up the space of the Polyclinic as hardly anyone reads the routine orders which do not concern a veteran. Why overburden him with the bureaucratic style notices?

Contemporary Issue
Background: Bringing the doctors under the ambit of Consumer Protection Act has made an impact on doctor-patient relationship. There has been an increase in legal cases of medical negligence in the recent past. This article provides practical information on medical negligence.
Methods: Complaints received at Army Headquarters were studied to understand the factors involved in medical negligence.
Result: Various aspects of medical negligence including doctor-patient relationship in the military set up have been discussed.
Preliminary measures to be taken to avoid cases of negligence are enumerated.
Conclusion: Good communication skills to build a rapport with the patient is the key to avoid majority of the complaints. The doctor must pay due courtesy, respect and care to the patient besides maintaining medical records scrupulously.
Medical Negligence in Military Hospitals by Brig K Chauhan, Lt Col SM Perumal, Lt Col S Hiwale, Lt Col Rajkumar