This past week, there was an alarming encounter in Bengaluru when a woman accused the staff of the diagnostic laboratory in the state of Bengaluru of harassment and intimidation while visiting the lab for routine medical care.
The case is now filed at Byadarahalli Police Station, where an investigation is pending. The incident allegedly took place in India, in Prakash Diagnostic Laboratory in the Byadarahalli area. The complainant, Jaishree S.K., a resident of the neighbourhood, came to the lab earlier this month for a thyroid test.
The act had happened while the woman’s blood was being drawn to test her, her complaint alleged. She alleged that the lab technician behaved inappropriately and unprofessionally on the job. While blood was being pulled out, the process was painful for her, but it was something she said that went on with carelessness, she told staff members.
She also questioned the behaviour of the staff, further complicating matters. Law enforcement officers she reported to said Pradeep, the laboratory technician, and Prabhakar, the laboratory manager, had threatened her without sufficient assistance or response. Her intimidation has so far at least shaken her and gotten her to report to the police.
By the time it was reported, the case had already been registered against the accused at Byadarahalli Police Station, in spite of her protests. Police opened preliminary probes into the testimony and story. Documentation will be provided of the complainant statements, statement of the accused and lab staff about the investigation and claim against the laboratory.
All of these practices are severe impediments to patient safety and ethical practices by the medical profession at its best. Diagnostic laboratories, the essential area of practice that treats patients, should have the confidence that those procedures are still safe and that they are treated as they wish.
And it’s not just misconduct that is eroding trust: More monitoring and accountability are needed. They said they would investigate, taking the proper steps. At the same time, there are discussions on how to behave in the right way and how to train health care workers to meet patients where they are and respond with empathy. There is further investigation of this issue.
