With more and more corporate hospitals rushing for the alluring credibility tag of 'accreditation' to woo affluent patients in general and the medical tourists in particular to their hospitals, the hard-pressed drive is taking a toll on the staff, especially the paramedical personnel, in the hospitals under evaluation. Things have come to such a pass that many of the employees have quit due to the added pressure and several are falling ill following burn-outs.
With corporate hospitals unrolling red carpets to the affluent patients of the society by providing five star facilities, competition has become cut-throat among the corporate hospitals who are vying for a better share in the growing medical tourism market in the country. Hence, accreditation has become a craze among these corporate hospitals.
Already seven hospitals were given accreditation by the National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers (NABH) and 38 applications are under various stages of accreditation, according to sources at the NABH.
B.M. Birla Heart Research Centre, Kolkata, MIMS Hospital (MIMS Ltd.), Calicut, Kerala Institute of Medical Science, Thiruvananthapuram, Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi, Max Devki Devi Heart & Vascular Institute, New Delhi, Moolchand Hospital, New Delhi and Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore were already given the accreditation.
However, the race against the time and facilities has put the staff under immense pressure in all these hospitals under evaluation for accreditation, according to those working in these hospitals. And the working conditions have changed little in these hospitals.
"We are pressed into classroom trainings straight after eight hours of duty on the floor. We never can afford a break during the duty. Now, without lunch or snacks, we are led to classrooms for training for hours,'' said a staff at the Fortis Hospital, Noida which is under the evaluation. Also their sister hospitals in Delhi, Jaipur and Escort Hospitals in Delhi and Faridabad were also among those seeking accreditation.
A close look at their working pressure gives indication of what accreditation means to the staff. "It just means overload of duty, extra-classroom tensions, daily briefing, harassments, punishments and no extra wages. Our working conditions will remain the same,'' the hospital staff said.
Even as accreditation process is on in high earnest, there have been constant events of security lapses in the hospitals. Some of the nursing staff claimed that many of them lost their valuables including gold, debit cards and dress from the cabinets in secured areas of the hospitals and no action was being taken. The working conditions have only gone worse and anti-infection control system is not working properly, they said.
A random cross-check among the staff, especially in the lower grades, in some other accreditation applicant hospitals like Batra and Ganga Ram in Delhi also gave similar results like bonded labour, cutting of salaries upto a month for some minor mistakes and above all 'work pressure' in these hospitals. Nursing staff and other paramedical personnel are bearing the brunt of accreditation process. Many of the staff quit due to added pressure and several of them fall ill following burn-outs.
According to the NABH norms, there is a strict valuation of human resources management. But the stress was always given on the quality of healthcare delivery, explained an official from the NABH. He also added that they would look into all suggestions from the public about the hospitals under evaluation.
The applicants for accreditation are: Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal, Escorts Heart Institute & Research Centre, New Delhi, Samad IVF Hospital, Trivandrum, Dharamshila Cancer Foundation And Research Centre, Delhi, Gupte Hospital of Accurate Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd., Pune, Medwin Hospitals, Hyderabad, AMRI Hospital, Kolkata, Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Kolkata, Samved Orthopaedic Institute, Ahemadabad, Woodlands Medical Centre Limited, Kolkata, Lekeshore Hospital & Research Centre Ltd., Kochi, Sevenhills Hospitals Limited, Visakhapatnam, Fortis Flt. Lt. Rajan Dhall Hospital, New Delhi, Escorts Hospital and Research Centre Ltd., Faridabad, Fortis Hospital, Noida, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Aashray Urology Institute, Vadodara, Chaithanya Eye Hospital and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, Baby Memorial Hospital, Calicut, Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, Ranjini Eye Care, Cochin, Sagar Apollo Hospital, Bangalore, Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre, New Delhi, G. Kuppuswami Naidu Memorial Hospital, Coimbatore, Dr. L. H. Hiranandani Hospital, Mumbai, Lifecare Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Ahmedabad, Columbia Asia Medical Centre - Hebbal, Bangalore, Spandan Heart Institute & Research Centre Pvt. Ltd., Nagpur, Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital, Ranchi, Delhi Heart and Lung Institute, New Delhi, Yashoda Hospital, Secunderabad, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi , Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai , Fortis Escorts Hospital, Jaipur, Breach Candy Hospital Trust, Mumbai, Wockhardt Hospitals, Nagarabhavi, Bangalore, Nethradhama Superspeciality Eye Hospital, Bangalore, and Divine Nursing Home Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata.