I would like to share my experiences at Medanta, Gurgaon. First off, I would like to make it clear that this is not a review for the surgeon himself, he has perofmed an aimcable job and has been very helpful during the treatment. Instead, this review is solely targeted at the hospital and my experience as a relative and my mum's experience as a patient at the hospital.
My mother was booked in for dual knee relacement surgeries at Medanta, Gurgaon, and the entire stay was scheduled for 7 days. Prior to the surgery, we were assured the total package would be a certain amount, which would include all medicines, implants, the cost of surgery itself and various other appendages. This was confirmed by the hospital staff verbally upon checking in the patient, however when I asked for them to provide this in writing, they declined without giving a satisfactory explanation. Instead, they said that the details will be in the final bill, however we should not be concerned since everything is included.
The day before the surgery, the hospital asked us to find donors for 2 pints of blood before they could proceed with the surgery. They refused to take blood from blood banks. We were not told about this in advance, so we had to rush and make phone calls to gather some friends and relatives who would give blood at such short notice. We found 4 people to come around to give blood, 2 of which the hospital refused to take blood from since they already had an abundant supply of O positive. So, the hospital expected us to find not only 2 people within a matter of hours to donate blood, but also make sure that those 2 people did not have O positive blood.. genius!
The care of the patient taken by the hospital was appaling at best. For the first 3 days and nights, the food was undercooked, and was delivered atleast 2 hours late. Upon enquiry of this, the hospital staff said that the food takes time to be brought from the ground floor kitchen and to be booked into the computer (yes, this takes 2 hours!).
Now, before the day of release, they handed over the bill with an added Rs 20, 000 cost on top of the original package. We enquired about this, and they said this included my mother needed some extra medications on than a "normal" patient would, so this cost was added. Furthermore, the main cost was for an extra implant which they didn't know would be needed. When we protested, the hospital said that the package is only an "estimate", and the final bill is only given during time of checkout. This was never made clear in the beginning, and we were constantly reassured that the so called package includes absolutely everything pertainig to the treatment.
To sum it all, my experience of Medanta has been gruelling and frustrating. Although the surgery was a success, the care given to the patient is disgusting, and the hospital administration is in utter shambles. The hospital seems it can decided to overcharge patiens whichever way the ysee fit, whilst at the same time ignoring basic care responsibilites for the patient.
All in all, for anyone about to use Medanta, I would seriously recommend you try and get as much information as you can in written and clarify all the points in as much detail as you can. I can only assume other hospitals are probably similar in their conduct, and the collective attitude of "kya kar sakte hain" will not help fix this situation. Hospitals are being turned into hotels, and not the good kind of hotels either.
I hope this lengthy and detailed review of my experiences can help someone else in the future, and also hope that maybe, one fine day, someone from Medanta, Gurgaon would read this, listen to his/her conscience and stop exploiting people. Would I ever use this hospital again? No thanks!!
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