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The Haves and Have-nots in IRHS
Recently I visited a Divisional Railway Hospital. I was surprised to find that the hospital has only two IRHS doctors. No CMP, no JR or SR. The division which has 750 route-km track and 4 HUs has only one IRHS doctor to manage it in addition to one CMS. Again no CMPs.
As I was resting in the ORH, I scanned through our WhatsApp group to see amazing pictures of brilliant surgeries done in some of our Railway hospitals. As I slowly went through all the congratulatory messages, a chill ran through my spine. What would these brilliant surgeons have done, if they were posted to one such division? Mind you, this division is not an isolated situation. Rather this is the real state of doctors in a maximum number of divisions in Indian railways. Out of 50+ railway hospitals, how many can boast of a 2-digit number of doctors? ( IRHS, contractual including.)
These brilliant surgeries are only possible because a few Ivory Towers of Railway hospitals boast 250+ working doctors ( IRHS+ SR+ JR+ HS) at the cost of the rest of the Indian Railways Health Services. The majority of CMSes do not have enough doctors to muster a three-doctor DMC. They have to take loans from their sister divisions.
The gap between Haves and Have-nots in IRHS is much bigger than that between the Ambani and Dharavi.
Amazing, isn’t it ?
-2-
Why Didn’t the Frog Jump?
All the three doctors I met there are not mean scholars. They have completed their PG in Medicine, O&G, and Pediatrics 20 years ago. That is certainly no mean achievement.
How come they allowed themselves to be struck in such thankless jobs for ages. Are they happy?
Then they told me the story of the frog in a bowl of boiling water.
The Frog did not Jump
There is an intriguing 19th-century science experiment.
Experiment:
Experimenters saw that when they put a frog in a bowl of boiling water, the frog immediately hopped out. On the contrary, when they placed the frog in tepid water at room temperature and set the water to heat over time, the frog would stay in the water until it was cooked to death.
Explanation:
As the temperature of the water began to increase, the frog started to adjust his body temperature accordingly. As the water started to reach the boiling point, the frog was no longer able to keep up with the change and decided to jump out. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Moral:
The frog did not jump because of his own inability to decide when he had to hop out.
An IRHS clinician is in an equally gradually worsening state without realizing the harm that the system has already caused until it is too late.
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A mid-summer afternoon’s dream
As I dozed off with the mobile in my hand, suddenly, I saw all the NFHAG* clinicians have gathered around me and telling me,
”Sir, we have already been bullied into adjusting with this faulty system of IRHS for 20 years. We have failed to jump out at the very beginning of our careers. That was a mistake. Enough is enough. This time we are ready to jump as soon as you start raising the temperature. No more trap of functional posts for us.
This time the frog did hop out.
Was he saved ?
*- NFHAG is a top-level post in Indian railway health service.
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Dr Ramakanta's Ideas 