'Seeking treatment in Pvt or Govt hospitals is purely personal choice'
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, February 22 2015: The emerging phenomenon of people lining in front of private hospitals for undergoing treatment of their loved ones despite the existence of prominent government run hospitals in the state with huge funding has raised debates about the reasons behind the new found preference for private hospitals.

In an exclusive interview with Hueiyen Lanpao, Superintendent of RIMS Hospital Prof S Amuba said it is unlikely that people opted for private hospitals in search of better service or due to availability of superior equipment as the state-run hospitals are far superior on those counts.

Second round of pulse polio immunization programme underway at Moreh Primary Health Centre on Sunday with ADC, Moreh Robert Kshetrimayum as the chief guest

He, however, admitted that many patients could have been dissatisfied on the issue of getting access to doctors and nurses as the state-run hospitals are invariably overloaded with patients.

Some patients also got themselves shifted to private hospitals as they could not procure special wards, he stated.

He stated that though RIMS and JNIMS are tertiary hospitals or referral hospitals, patients prefer to get their health check there even for minor problems.

He advised them that if they develop the habit of visiting primary and community health centres or even district hospitals instead for minor health problems than the overload at these hospitals will be markedly lessened, automatically bringing in an all-round improvement in the mode of treatment.

He reminded that RIMS and JNIMS have bigger departments and more number of specialist doctors.

Each department have three or four professors and many associate professors, he stated implying that none of the private hospitals can boast of such formidable teams.

People seeking treatment at private or state-run hospitals is purely a personal decision, he stated.

Dwelling on the present plans for upgradation of RIMS Hospital, he stated that the Health Ministry has given approval for purchase of Rs 1 crore worth of state of the art medical equipment.

There is a proposal for procuring ten more ventilators at a cost of Rs 13-14 lakhs per piece, he informed.

A patient undergoing treatment at a reputed private hospital while comparing the facilities available there with state-run hospitals maintained that though the latter have more qualified doctors, the level of patient care is better in private hospitals.

Even doctors from state hospitals show more concern and sincerity to the problems of the patients while offering their service at private hospitals.

However, he complained that the system in private hospitals is influenced by a commercial outlook and the authorities there will waste no opportunity to fleece their patients.