Visit to NIMHANS

Indian hospitals are choatic by nature. When something is build to cater to such a larger number of customers, the quality is bound to take a hit. At least, that's the justification we all come to believe in. It is a chaotic mess of patients, their family, security guards, nurses and doctors, all trying to coexist and maintain an equillibrium. For a first time visitor, this chaos can be debilitating - Feeling stranded in the middle of this ocean of people, unable to find the metaphorical land. Clearly, creating a seamless visitor experience has never been high on priorty. Where are product managers when we need them! :D

The other hallmark of visiting a hospital is the least regard for people's time. There is never a quick visit, especially to a government hospital in India. Apointment time is a farce that is another way of telling that if you are lucky and are able to stick around for ~2 hours of the appointment time, you might get to see the doctor. This is after you overcome a sea of people, long queue for a slot and attend multiple generalist screenings.

In places like Indian hospitals, when there is enough crowding just by the sheer number of patients itself, one might find a family of 3-4 accompanying the patients. While one side of me empathises with the family's anxiety and patients deriving strength from the presence of family around them, the other side is congizant of the ruccus it may cause and the strain it may impose on the infrastructure (seating, spacing etc).

Finally, the true heroes are the doctors and their support staff who stand tall to overcome all the infrastructure shortcomings to make sure the patient feels heard and goes back smiling. Overcoming the odds!