| Address: Mumbai City, Maharashtra |
We admitted our mother Mrs. Suchitra Shivram Kambli (71 yrs.) on 24th September 2011. At the time of admission, she was as such able to speak. Only thing was that she was in pain. Till that time at home, she was on liquid diet like protein & hemoglobin supplement. We used to give pain-killers given by Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH). On the 1st day in your Hospice (24.9.2011), doctor told us to stop all the medications given by TMH, except for protein and hemoglobin. A nurse started giving her medicines 4 times-a-day. Most of the time of the 1st day, our mother was in deep sleep. We used to feed protein supplement in the morning and soup given by the hospital in the afternoon, with the spoon.
On the 2nd day (25.9.2011) also, she was hardly able to open her eyes because of sedatives given by the nurse. Whenever for a little time she opened her eyes after lots of efforts, we fed her milk in the morning and soup in the afternoon and juice in the evening. One senior sister who visited meanwhile expressed satisfaction about her intake. Till that time she was all right but in a heavily drowsy condition.
On 3rd day (26.9.2011) in the morning when our brother was trying to feed our mother protein supplement with the spoon, another doctor came and scolded our brother. She diagnosed her pulse to be weak and also expressed that the intake was not sufficient. She ordered nurse to feed our mother through feeding tube via nostrils. The nurse poured the protein supplement through the tube at once. As soon as she did that, our mother was in great discomfort and pain. She became breathless up till the time of soup (i.e. 12.30 pm). Again they did the same thing, i.e. forcefully pouring and pumping all the dense soup through the feeding tube. our mother somehow complained of having lots of pain and tried to refuse in her most possible way by shaking her legs and hands. She vomited all the soup and remaining things through the nose & mouth. She again became breathless but this time more drastically. When we complained to the sister-in-charge and told her to remove the tube, she said she was busy and did not have any time to see the patient. After many requests, she sent one nurse to remove the tube. When we requested the doctor to check the patient, she came after 5 minutes to see the patient, and gave her an injection to come out of breathlessness. Still our mother couldn't get relief and kept on breathing very fast. Again we called the doctor to check the patient at 2.45 pm. She came and saw the patient and said very coldly that she could not do any thing then. She added that the patient might go today also and she left the room. By 3 o'clock our mother's breath became very slow and at 3.07 pm she opened her eyes for the last time and took the last breath in front of our eyes and we couldn't do anything.
In view of the above incident, We've certain queries in our mind as follows:
1) In the above said organization, the patient is made to sleep the whole day just like a dead body by giving heavy sedatives after every 3 hours for four times-a-day. Then how intent given on the website(www.shantiavednasadan.org/) is met as per which the patient should spend some quality time with their loved ones and close relatives?
2) At the terminal stage of cancer, is there any need of giving food after every 2 hours when the patient doesn't need much ?
3) Are the nurses & doctors in the organization adequately competent, qualified, trained / retrained to handle the patient. This question has stemmed from the following concerns:
a) Even after seeing patient uncomfortable and in pain, they continued tube-feeding, without bothering about the feed quantity at one time, its fluidity, etc. [As per the website, they are supposed to make the patient comfortable.].
b) As per other websites on the internet, the food which comes out of the mouth and the tube may go in the lungs and because of this the patient becomes restless and uncomfortable, cardiac respiratory arrest may also happen. [This is what exactly the reason mentioned in the certificate given by the organization.].
c) After seeing the patient breathless, the doctor did not order oxygen supply to the patient. [Was it a part of the policy of “no treatment” as per the website?].
4) In view of the above, how in our case the hospital ensured that our mother lived and left in peace as it is claimed on the website?
5) Is there any sort of performance/quality audit done periodically on the organization by an independent agency?
6) What is the mechanism to furnish feedback to the fund donors to give them confidence that there contribution is appropriately utilized and not going in vain towards empty beds?
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