Niloka Moses Zhimo
Much concern is seen from the side of true citizens that Health and Medical services must me maintained up to satisfactory level. Concerns are seen to only remain as a habitual complaint. Is this going to be an unsolved and unaccomplished mission? It’s really sad for me and much of me (not you?).
The ‘domestic business’ of Naga Hospital Kohima has much to be objected. However let me pick out the thing(s) which can be solved if taken little care of. There are many other hard problems which would cost ‘personality richness’ and thus, sound very uncertain. If you want to know some, they are ‘late doctors arrival’, ‘informalities in official work’, ‘short and unsatisfactory doctors’ bedside manner’, etc..etc.. . Above all, ‘BATHROOM’!
I feel very Jack-headed to write on this but I can’t stay calm and let my guilty burn me. Ever experienced the trouble of holding back your needs for a couple of hours or more? I had had no experience of such until the fate occurred this year when I was an attendant of a patient there in Naga Hospital, Kohima. If you are a creature you won’t be happy with the ‘bathroom department there. I may fill this whole paper writing on this topic so you better remember the old saying: Seeing is believing!
Here are some of my garnered aids to my write-up:-
1) Maternity Ward: There are 20 beds with 3 bathrooms. Only dogs and impatient patients use these bathrooms. There are 9 cabins with bathrooms attached in each cabin….this is what we call ‘Cloud No. 9’!
2) B (1) Male Surgical Ward: There are merciful enough beds with the lucky number of 33! The sad story ends as there is no bathroom. Ah, sorry! There is, whereas you can’t use. Never!
3) C (1) Pediatric and Male Medical Ward: Government has provided enough number of 39 beds with increasing patients. Remember! There are bathrooms here. I bet you can’t stay a minute 10 ft. away from it. A French lady would describe the smell as ‘musky eau-de-cologne perfume’.
4) C (2) Surgical Ward for Male and Female: We find the same old concern of government with 32 beds. They had even worked hard to attach 3 bathrooms. “Waste rooms”--- you may call….filled with females’ monthly used cottons! This will sure spoil your racy mood.
5) Female Medical Ward: Odd number of around 21 general beds and special 2 cabins. Cabins, as usual, are attached with bathrooms except for often shortage of water in the morning when it’s time to……. Hey, there is one classic bathroom for 21 general beds. Here, you get okay facility. The tragedy is that “All the patients and attendants of ward mentioned in No. 1 to No. 4 try to join with these 21 poor female patients and attendants. (Little brain work, please…hmmm...) 138 patients + at least 1 attendant each = approximately 276. These huge number of poor fellows stand in an impatient queue to get the golden chance of at least 1 minute stay inside that ‘lonely bathroom’! If they get, they realize that ‘Dreams come true!’
I even came across one young female patient, biting her sweet lips, rolling her big eye balls, her cheeks as Kashmir apples, waited for unmoving long hours and pushed herself hardly inside the bathroom slamming the door without even latching it back. She must have felt “No Time!”
6) Isolation Ward: They have 19 beds with the gift from heaven of 5 bathrooms. They sometimes even forget about their sickness when they realize their availability of bathrooms compared to those around 276 fellows struggling for 1 bathroom!!!
7) Eye, ear, nose, throat (ENT) Ward: (5 x 3 = 15) 15 beds blessed with 3 bathrooms. You want to try these bathrooms? Borrow a surgical mask!
8) Oncology: Perfect number of ten beds. If you get Rs.10 how much your 10% (tithe) will be? Of course Rs.1. Being so religious, they have adapted this process by providing 1 bathroom to these lucky 10.
9) De Addiction Rehabilitation (DAR) Ward: There are 12 beds. Being religious, they should have provided 1.2 bathrooms. Little greedy (little), that they have forgotten 0.2. There is stingy 1 bathroom.
If I am not mistaken, we have come into conclusion that there are 11 cabins (royal cabins) and 201 general beds. The provided bathrooms (and toilets) are enough and the usable ones are few, very few! I wonder whether the bosses realize these things. We know and we don’t object them having the coolest car in the state, gifting their queens and princesses expensive Queensboro products, pleasing their children with latest Japan Technology and what not! The patient won’t get well at the sight of their Paris-plastered residence, and bathrooms too! Patients don’t prefer the hospital office be made with Germany building products or glass covered-walls. What they need is humble and neat accommodation.
At least each bathroom must be provided to 5 patients each. We say 5 patients and when we include attendants it reaches the minimum of 15 people. Actually, one attendant is meant for each patient. However, to obey the etiquette is to make the patient die! By nature’s love, one can’t do multiple chores at a time. Can a single person cook, go for emergency search of medicines, inform the condition of a patient to the Nurse or look after the patient’s need while s/he stand in a queue to bathroom door whole morning to noon? Let’s better adapt the possible way out. No moment left to remain as a fumbling spectator.
The fact lies in the hiatus where in some ward, bathrooms are not provided for staffs too! A doctor or anyone who pay a visit of decade or two minutes to these wards won’t feel their domestic problem than to yell out their litany of edifying cliché. They don’t have much time to make their domestic informalities public than to just let themselves think “Corrupted State, Nagaland!” I bet the so called high officers and staffs would find hard to even mention the approximate number of beds and bathrooms attached to each ward (what a concern they have…) By God, besides perfect final year Medical students, even a sophomore Medical students there could mention the right number of rooms and everything they are asked within the campus!
“Show me the way to bathroom”, a patient hungrily asked a man passing by. Pointing to the next new building, the man suggested,” Go there, you may find one. Just join the queue there”.
“Why in others’ ward?” the patient questioned confusingly. “I don’t know!” the man shrugged.
“Oh,” the patient breathed and yelled, “Where’s our bathroom?”
