Patricia Mukhim
The answer to the above question should be, “We all do…Yes we the people of the North Eastern Region do, because this Institution was envisaged to be our version of the prestigious, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.” This Institution is supposed to stem the exodus of patients from here to Vellore (our favourite paid destination), Apollo Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi and the other hospitals in the Indian metros. It is unfortunate that state governments of the seven North Eastern states continue to expend tax payers’ money to underwrite the medical treatment of their employees. No other category of citizens can afford treatment outside their states. Perhaps this is one reason why the state governments cannot be bothered about NEIGRIHMS. Politicians and bureaucrats can anyway get the best treatment in the best hospitals in India and even abroad. It’s the ordinary citizen – the non-government employee whose life is at stake and who needs the services of a NEIGRIHMS.
For greater clarity it is important to mention that the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute for Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) does not belong to the Government of India’s Health Ministry, hence it is not a sarkari hospital with all the degenerative traits of lack of cleanliness and inadequate facilities. It should not be treated with disdain. Those of us who visit NEIGRIHMS for various reasons and see the administrative lacunae there should call it out. And those at the helm of this Hospital should stop assuming that they are only accountable to the Union Health Ministry. The NEIGRIHMS authorities including its director, its medical and technical staff are all accountable to the people of this region, no matter what their status is. This should be very clear and all of us have the right to point out where and when things go wrong. And yes, we have the right to use the RTI and to go to the media to voice our concerns. In the past we have seen how the administration of NEIGRIHMS levelled allegations at the media and even called this newspaper and its editor the purveyor of “fake news.” Now why would anyone want to waste time and news space to push in fake news and who would that benefit? Just because the top rung in the administration are hurt by such news does not mean that the news is “fake.” And why would anyone want to defame an Institution that is much needed in the region; one that has the potential to become a centre of excellence and one of the best health care and research institutions of North East India, provided the leadership rises to the occasion.
Speaking of leadership there are genuine leaders who lead from the front and create a climate of harmony; where hierarchy is diminished and the leader is just the first among equals. Genuine leaders are never terror mongers intimidating their colleagues at the first opportunity. In America, psychologists have zeroed in on leaders that tend to create problems instead of solving them and who because of their insecurity make other peoples’ lives miserable. Such leaders are termed as, “toxic leaders.” Let us not forget that even Hitler was a self-styled leader although his leadership was as toxic as it could get. One does not become a leader by controlling, dictating, creating a fear psychosis or by being vindictive. That’s the characteristic of a toxic leader. Psychologist Marcia Lynn Whicker coined the term toxic leadership in 1996 and says it is a combination of self-centred attitudes, motivations, and behaviours that have adverse effects on subordinates, the organization, and mission performance. This leader lacks concern for others and the climate of the organization, which leads to short- and long-term negative effects. Whicker says toxic leadership is linked with a number of dysfunctional leadership styles. Hence leadership is not always positive and not all are born to lead. When people are chosen to head institutions in the West their leadership skills are tested to the hilt unlike in India where the test for genuine leadership is not a criterion within government institutions and where only seniority matters. As if seniority is a certificate for leadership! No wonder not a single institution in the region stands out as a model of genuine leadership!
If NEIGRIHMS belongs to the people of the seven North Eastern states then why are the state governments not taking interest in this Institution? Why don’t the Chief Ministers of these seven states show any inclination to engage in the welfare of this prestigious institution? A visit to NEIGRIHMS will inform us that there are bus loads of patients from the Barak Valley of Assam (Hailakandi, Karimganj, Silchar), and a good number from Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya. Why are the chief ministers of the seven states apathetic to the status of the Institution?
Since NEIGRIHMS is located in Meghalaya’s capital of Shillong, it becomes the remit of the media here to highlight the administrative lapses of this Institution, despite its ability to win sundry awards in some of its performance indices. In Meghalaya, there is no hospital with a Mammogram machine to detect if cancer cells are lurking in a woman’s breast. Women are advised to go through these tests especially after a certain age or if they sense any lump in their breasts. The nearest place to go for this important test is Guwahati. Why does NEIGRIHMS not have a mammogram machine? It is learnt that the Mammogram machine at NEIGRIHMS went kaput after only a few tests. The machine was not repaired and was not usable. Since it cannot be written off as scrap after just a few months of purchase it had to be left alone for several years until it could be written off recently. Now a new mammogram machine is being tendered for. I wonder why expensive machines are not purchased on a turnkey basis with robust warranty and insurance coverage. How can an expensive machine be condemned after minimal usage? Who is to be held accountable?
Now NEIGRIHMS is coming up with a state of the art Cancer Institute and already has senior oncologists on its roll. Unfortunately the Institute does not have a radiotherapy treatment machine hence patients have to undergo radiotherapy at the Shillong Civil Hospital where the facilities are available. For laypersons it is important to know that there are three major areas in the field of cancer treatment (Oncology). They are medical, surgical, and radiation. A medical oncologist treats cancer using chemotherapy or other medications, such as targeted therapy or immunotherapy. Surgical oncology uses surgical methods to diagnose, stage, and treat cancer, and to relieve certain cancer-related symptoms and radiation therapy or radiation oncology is the use of high-energy particles or waves to destroy or damage cancer cells.
Again here it is learnt that tendering for the radiotherapy equipment started in 2013 but there were hurdles galore that NEIGRIHMS authorities could not overcome. It is not known as to where the fault lies as far as procurement of appropriate medical equipments is concerned. Apparently NEIGRIHMS is now closer to finalising the deal for procurement of the radiotherapy machine.
Recently a patient who went in for the Dexa Scan (bone densitometry test) had to have her weight taken. She normally weighs 51 kilograms but the weighing scale in the Dexa Scan unit showed her weight at 56 kilos. That’s a good 5 kilograms above the actual weight. When she asked the technician if the weighing scale was faulty he said, “Yes.”
These are just a few of the problems of our version of AIIMS and it pains us because if the weighing scale is inaccurate then how do we take the results of the Dexa Scan as accurate? 100% accuracy is important to ascertain the medical problems of a patient.
In an Institution with as large an ambit as NEIGRIHMS there are different leadership levels as there are departments. All department heads need to converge on one objective – service to suffering humanity. This convergence requires that the top leadership knows the way, shows the way and goes the way. Anything short of this is not acceptable.
Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma might be the first CM from the region to meet the Union Health Minister on improving the performance of NEIGRIHMS. Since the North Eastern Council and DoNER are platforms where the North East CMs meet and deliberate issues, it is now the remit of these two institutions to ensure that NEIGRIHMS reaches its full potential.