Re: [Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
On Jul 10, 2014, at 10:50 AM, Melvyn Fernandes mel...@orange.net wrote: Dear JC.(1) Kithem santam raebikinistop shot men peon Goa advisors .. ..accelerators...(2) unscrupulous doctors and taxi drivers.knickers. (3) Duty of careIf there were no patients you would not have doctorsfootball...legislatorsour tiny dot of (4)Goa where people appear to backward, stupid ...My Village SchemeBishop's house ... My dear Melvyn, I will attempt to touch on the few points I have numbered (above) from your rather intriguing post. If Goanet carries that post, the following is my response. MF(1) Kithem santam rae jc: NO idea what that means.or even in what language .. MF(2) unscrupulous doctors jc: Yes, regrettably, we have them everywhere, including in Goa and in the UK. MF(3) Duty of care jc: Yes, that is a specific term in Tort and in Legal Medicine. In medicine, it relates to the duty a physician has towards a patient with whom he has an established physician-patient relationship. MF(4) Goa where people appear to backward, stupid .. jc: My impression of Goa and it's people is exactly the opposite. What company do you keep when you visit Goa? PS: I will take this opportunity to reiterate a few points I have made earlier: a: Private doctors' offices are NOT charity service outlets. b: As a matter of policy and good business practice, doctors' offices MUST ascertain HOW their services will be compensated BEFORE the patient is touched UNLESS they (the doctors' offices) do NOT intend to pay their own licensing fees, malpractice premiums, their rental and utility bills and their staff, AND they intend to go broke in short order. c: While a physician may, on occasion, decide to NC (no charge) a patient in need, he cannot make that as a routinenor can he advertise free or reduced-fee services. The latter is considered as a form of bribery and unfair inducement (kick back). d: When dealing with 'foreign' patients, the physicians' offices have to be extra vigilant. Some tourists believe that just because they have 'Travel Insurance' (say from the UK), the doctor in Goa is expected to see them right away. NOT So. e: Many of our UK Goans may NOT be aware that Health Insurance policies have many caveats eg: deductibles, copays and their own 'customary' rates. Some policies require prior pre-certification by the physician OR ELSE the services will be either not be compensated for or compensated at a significantly lower rate. All this after the appropriate forms have been completed with ICD and CPT codes. US and Canadian Goans will understand this because they routinely see EOBs (Explanation of Benefits) after they consult a private physician. BTW: It is possible that some UK Goans are unaware that Goa private doctors are NOT paid by the NHS-UK..or any other NHS. f: ' Faleam' and 'Deu Borem Korum baba' do not help compensate for services provided. g: Melvyn, based on the information you have hitherto provided, IMO, your sweeping tirade against Goans and Goan doctors is totally inappropriate. h: Again, based on the information you have hitherto provided, the water injection story as advised by the UK doctor is pure Gas. jc
Re: [Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
HAIL THE KING? On Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 7:32 AM, Jose cola...@gmail.com wrote: On Jul 10, 2014, at 10:50 AM, Melvyn Fernandes mel...@orange.net wrote: Dear JC.(1) Kithem santam raebikinistop shot men peon Goa advisors .. ..accelerators...(2) unscrupulous doctors and taxi drivers.knickers. (3) Duty of careIf there were no patients you would not have doctorsfootball...legislatorsour tiny dot of (4)Goa where people appear to backward, stupid ...My Village SchemeBishop's house ... My dear Melvyn, I will attempt to touch on the few points I have numbered (above) from your rather intriguing post. If Goanet carries that post, the following is my response. MF(1) Kithem santam rae jc: NO idea what that means.or even in what language .. MF(2) unscrupulous doctors jc: Yes, regrettably, we have them everywhere, including in Goa and in the UK. MF(3) Duty of care jc: Yes, that is a specific term in Tort and in Legal Medicine. In medicine, it relates to the duty a physician has towards a patient with whom he has an established physician-patient relationship. MF(4) Goa where people appear to backward, stupid .. jc: My impression of Goa and it's people is exactly the opposite. What company do you keep when you visit Goa? PS: I will take this opportunity to reiterate a few points I have made earlier: a: Private doctors' offices are NOT charity service outlets. b: As a matter of policy and good business practice, doctors' offices MUST ascertain HOW their services will be compensated BEFORE the patient is touched UNLESS they (the doctors' offices) do NOT intend to pay their own licensing fees, malpractice premiums, their rental and utility bills and their staff, AND they intend to go broke in short order. c: While a physician may, on occasion, decide to NC (no charge) a patient in need, he cannot make that as a routinenor can he advertise free or reduced-fee services. The latter is considered as a form of bribery and unfair inducement (kick back). d: When dealing with 'foreign' patients, the physicians' offices have to be extra vigilant. Some tourists believe that just because they have 'Travel Insurance' (say from the UK), the doctor in Goa is expected to see them right away. NOT So. e: Many of our UK Goans may NOT be aware that Health Insurance policies have many caveats eg: deductibles, copays and their own 'customary' rates. Some policies require prior pre-certification by the physician OR ELSE the services will be either not be compensated for or compensated at a significantly lower rate. All this after the appropriate forms have been completed with ICD and CPT codes. US and Canadian Goans will understand this because they routinely see EOBs (Explanation of Benefits) after they consult a private physician. BTW: It is possible that some UK Goans are unaware that Goa private doctors are NOT paid by the NHS-UK..or any other NHS. f: ' Faleam' and 'Deu Borem Korum baba' do not help compensate for services provided. g: Melvyn, based on the information you have hitherto provided, IMO, your sweeping tirade against Goans and Goan doctors is totally inappropriate. h: Again, based on the information you have hitherto provided, the water injection story as advised by the UK doctor is pure Gas. jc
[Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
Dear JC Kithem santam rae. You will recall this thread started with a discussion on the banning of bikinis on Goa's beaches worn by women who visit Goa as they are denied the glorious sunshine and Vitamin D that Goa is blessed with. The wearing of bikinis in a democracy can express their feminine form but unfortunately are attracting illiterate men who do not know how to look and not touch. The debate was by a high percentage of top shot men peon Goa advisors who should know by now that you can put your foot down on the accelerator and know exactly where you are going. You can put your foot down on a woman and you cannot be sure which direction your decision will take you. Recent discussions on unscrupulous doctors and taxi drivers appears to have got this thread like knickers in a twist. Incidentally, knickers are very much in the UK headlines at the moment and there is a strong possibility they too will be banned at airports soon - a woman was caught carrying GBP 16,000 in her knickers at Heathrow airport. Life is short and not a dress rehearsal. We all have a RESPONSIBILITY and DUTY OF CARE to each other for a better world. If no one has said this before, allow me to be the first. If there were no patients you would not have doctors. If there were no doctors, you would not have medicine. If you had no medicine, you would not have chemists and universities. On the other hand, if we did not have robbers, they would no need for police. And just like football, if you have no rules, there would be no game. No legislators would mean no laws and a breeding ground for corruption, extortion and a useless quality of life. I hope you can agree. We cannot save the whole world but we can start with our tiny dot of Goa where people appear to backward, stupid and applying for special status to confirm this. I believe that the cream and talent of Goa is still in Goa and those of us living abroad that can assist have the opportunity to do so. I welcome the announcement by the NRI office Quote My Village Scheme Goan expatriates gainfully employed in overseas countries have often expressed their desire to contribute to the development of their native areas where they were born or brought up or have their roots. Their contribution to the development process could be in any infrastructure project or scheme of public interest, which would either help in improving the living conditions of the community at large or provide the much needed facilities which the civic bodies are unable to provide basically due to lack of funds. Against this background, the Department of NRI Affairs has formulated a scheme under the title My Village Scheme whereby the Goan expatriates may contribute to the development of project beneficial to the public at large in their native areas where they were born or brought up or have their roots. Unquote This announcement on the Global Goans website does not indicate who to contact and may I suggest if you are able to take any part in this scheme you e-mail the NRI office on commissionernri_goa [commissionernri_goa] Please send me a copy for information as I am still awaiting a reply from Bishops House in Panjim on a communication I sent on the welfare of their staff. In keeping with protocol, I was hoping to send a copy with the Pope (but unfortunately he is not visiting Goa)and Anna Maria, a contributor on goanet, who is well versed in matters of the cloth. I am happy to forward this letter to anyone travelling to Goa who can visit Bishops House and chase up a reply from them. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, UK 10 July 2014
[Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
Melvyn Fernandes melvyn at orange.net on Thu Jul 10 07:50:58 PDT 2014 wrote: … If there were no patients you would not have doctors. If there were no doctors, you would not have medicine. If you had no medicine, you would not have chemists and universities. On the other hand, if we did not have robbers, they would no need for police. And just like football, if you have no rules, there would be no game. No legislators would mean no laws and a breeding ground for corruption, extortion and a useless quality of life. I hope you can agree….. COMMENT: I can now see how some people can be so ignorant! From time immemorial there existed illness; we can know from any history. Meaning, there always were patients and there were always healers/doctors. Presently, not only doctors, but also lay people have advanced with development. Travelers have advisors including in the medical field depending which part of the globe is travelled. They advise as to what medicines to carry or what medicines to consume for prevention of certain illness that is endemic in a certain places. Basic prevention of traveler’s illnesses, like traveler’s diarrhea, etc. are also available if one just googles the net. Well. It is each one’s choice! If one wants to learn to protect oneself, or one wants t blame someone else for a misfortune that could be prevented! Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
[Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC and FRF))
Hi JC, Dr Ferdinando dos Reis Falcao and interested parties Response to JC JC1: My only point was this: For private medical practices to run, it is IMPORTANT that the physician gets reasonably compensated for his/her services. Accordingly, it is crucial that the physician's office ascertains HOW the compensation will be organised BEFORE the physician touches the patient. MF1: In theory, a doctor’s first duty is to save lives. When a patient is in a critical state, he is unable to reach for his wallet hence there will be a communication problem with regard to renumeration. In this case, who is to be compensated? The patient for not receiving adequate care or the doctor/physician for not providing appropriate care rather than playing for time. Perhaps the International Association of Goan Doctors who I heard of through World Goa Day can come in on this – Mr Rene Baretto please co-ordinate through Yahoo Groups. JC2: I will conclude this post by expressing my astonishment at the following from today's post from you: 1: the nurse came and gave what appeared to be blood thinning injections in the stomach but actually it was just plain water as we discovered on a check up back in the UK. 2: An ECG reading should take no more than ten minutes with a print out on graph paper telling the medical technician what the heart rate MF2: What can be astonishing to us is normal in every day life in Goa with no regard for health and safety. In this issue I can only assume that the supplier sold the hospital fake goods that even the doctors or nurses were unaware of. Who checks this? I was present when these injections were administered and the wrapping looked original. My friend had a thorough check-up in private health care in the UK when he returned and it was only then he was advised that he had been injected with water. Also notes provided by the Goa doctor to my friend were very selective and vague. Response to Dr Ferdinando dos Reis Falcao FRF1:Well, whom do you place the blame on, for your experience? 1- The Goa government which does not have adequate Health care facilities? 2- The Private Medical care Centres which have their own unregulated private agenda? 3- The public/relative who make a decision as to where the patient concerned should be admitted? 4- The patient himself who does not make adequate plans as to his decision in case of any medical emergency? MF1: There is no right or wrong answer, just a statement of fact. Luckily my friend did not die as he only had food poisoning. I am not sure what precautions can be taken in case of emergency. Perhaps local newspapers can do a quick guide to be cut out and kept at notice boards of every guest house and hotel for visitors to make note in different locations. Maybe this note will encourage other readers to advise how they got on if they had a medical emergency in Goa and which Government agency did they contact for their attention and continued action. After all a healthy population equals a healthy economy which can only be good for the State. DF2: You people write as though you all are so learned….. FRF2: Escola ghela, cannot be a bad thing. Rewinding back in time our educated ancestors were readily available for export to Africa on the cheap as administrative coolies (this is covered in my note in item 12 goanet issue no. 290, vol 9 14 May 2014). This is also where crab mentality may have developed to stop clever people going into the wild and putting themselves in harm's way. FRF3: ……..and that you still did not have a plan made as to where to go, or to be taken in case of a medical emergency? Are these not part and parcel of Safety Procedures for travel? You’ll exhibit complete complacency in decisions on your health, well being, as well as your life, on unknown people?! MF3: Tuja toklem sarkim asa? Make a plan? Do we have time for this? The only time we have before we leave the UK to travel to Goa is for shopping, our lists prepared months in advance. Oil of Ulay, Channel Perfume, Sloggi Knickers, Creamier Chocolates, iPods, Football shirts, Packet Soups, Oxo Cubes, Raisons, the list is endless. Now added to this list Rose has reminded me to take children’s books for Frederick’s Saligao village library. Thankfully bikinis will soon be banned in Goa so one less thing for us to shop for. We then have to weigh all this to fit in within the maximum luggage allowance! The pressure to find space to put your own clothes sometimes means when you get to Goa you then shop for your wardrobe and still find someone you left out on your present list. This is what we have to do to avoid sad faces and ensure we have a well deserved happy vacation. If you are a Goykar and live abroad, you must be a very brave person if you go to Goa without any presents for your relatives and friends. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 9 July 2014
Re: [Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC and FRF))
Melvyn Fernandes (MF) wrote: Response to JC (PART ONE) JC1: My only point was this: For private medical practices to run, it is IMPORTANT that the physician gets reasonably compensated for his/her services. Accordingly, it is crucial that the physician's office ascertains HOW the compensation will be organised BEFORE the physician touches the patient. MF1: In theory, a doctor’s first duty is to save lives. When a patient is in a critical state, he is unable to reach for his wallet hence there will be a communication problem with regard to renumeration. In this case, who is to be compensated? The patient for not receiving adequate care or the doctor/physician for not providing appropriate care rather than playing for time. Perhaps the International Association of Goan Doctors who I heard of through World Goa Day can come in on this – Mr Rene Baretto please co-ordinate through Yahoo Groups. -jc(RESPONSE July 9, 2014) PART ONE- a: Except in Judaism, and in French and some US state law, There is NO DUTY on the part of a doctor (or any other person) to SAVE the LIFE of any other person. b: Also, a doctor in PRIVATE practice has NO DUTY (responsibility, obligation) to see or treat an individual with whom he has NO established Physician-Patient relationship. c: Physicians's offices must ascertain HOW the services are to be compensated, ideally BEFORE the patient is touched. IF NOT, they run the risk of going broke in a hurry. d: This will also prevent unethical (and IMO illegal) actions like a physician confiscating a patient's passport because he was unable to pay after receiving the treatment (as reportedly happened in a North Goa village). e: There are specific procedures in place, in Common Law, for patients to claim for Medical Negligence or to report Fraud. f: Health care and Doctors are governed by specific Legal and Ethical principles and guidelines. The courts in India and the medical council in Goa have the responsibility to ensure that those principles and guidelines are adhered to. (The same as in the UK). g: No Association of International or Internet Goans (their good intentions having been noted) can dictate to Goan doctors HOW to run the business side of their practices. They may, however, make suggestions to the Goa Medical Council based upon verifiable details and not assumptions and hearsay. (Please vide 'j' infra ) - (PART TWO) JC2: I will conclude this post by expressing my astonishment at the following from today's post from you: 1: the nurse came and gave what appeared to be blood thinning injections in the stomach but actually it was just plain water as we discovered on a check up back in the UK. 2: An ECG reading should take no more than ten minutes with a print out on graph paper telling the medical technician what the heart rate MF2: What can be astonishing to us is normal in every day life in Goa with no regard for health and safety. In this issue I can only assume that the supplier sold the hospital fake goods that even the doctors or nurses were unaware of. Who checks this? I was present when these injections were administered and the wrapping looked original. My friend had a thorough check-up in private health care in the UK when he returned and it was only then he was advised that he had been injected with water. Also notes provided by the Goa doctor to my friend were very selective and vague. - jc(RESPONSE July 9, 2014) PART TWO- WHILE what you say may be normal in every day life in Goa, the following is what I found astonishing in your post: h: 'blood thinning injections in the stomach': What 'blood thinning agents' in what 'STOMACH'? i: On what basis did the UK doctor advise your friend that he had been injected with WATER? BTW: Were you there with this friend when the UK doctor allegedly said that? It would be good to know HOW he ascertained that. j: While I am aware of the reported adulteration of medications and IV fluids in India, I am not going to be party to any assumptions about what was injected into your friend. (Please vide 'g' supra). k: wrt Medical Reports, if I was an UK based physician, I would have got a hold of the email of the Candolim hospital / doctor, obtained the necessary patient consent and requested the information I needed, instead of just stating the the Goa doctor's note was vague. Of course, I would have to explain WHY I wanted the extra information I was requesting. In closing this response, I will make the following comments: A: Evidence of substandard healthcare delivery exists in all countries. The UK is not immune from it. That is why Medical Law developed in the UK over the past 25 years. (PLEASE review APPENDIX 1 infra) B: Goa surely has its share of unscrupulous medical practice and practitioners. It is right to criticise that which is substandard. BUT, As we strive to make it better, we must also be fair. We must also
[Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
Dear JC There are doctors and there are doctors. In Goa some behave like unscrupulous taxi drivers when it comes to charging as our people are easily frightened and believe that their lives are in the hands of doctors who take advantage of this belief. These doctors need to be reminded they are not God and that there is a higher authority that will assist sincere doctors and their assistants who take pride in patient care duties at whatever the nominal rate is. Unlike others who can only see money first regardless of patient care. My experience of this was when a friend of mine took ill in Goa last year having had lunch at a beach shack in Candolim. To cut a long story short, he had food poisioning. What happened, a Goa government ambulance was called from Mapusa to the residence in Candolim. The ambulance crew was very professional (full marks to them) and took an ECG reading on their antiquated mobile equipment. They then took another ECG reading fitted inside the ambulance which I travelled in and got a more accurate picture. A friend of his stopped the ambulance from proceeding to the Government hospital in Mapusa and we were directed to a private teaching hospital in Candolim. The building looked all professional and we had to sign some paperwork discharging the ambulance crew. There was no cost involved up to this point. At the hospital the doctor and the cardiologist would have frightened anyone with no medical knowledge as their expressions and theatorical performance indicated he was in a critical condition. Food poisioning makes you weak. He was wired up to an antiquated ECG machine that will have been redundant in Europe and we were asked to watch the monitor. Something like the sonar machine from Thunder Birds. He was connected to an oxygen supply that had no oxygen coming out. Had he urgently needed oxygen he would have brain dead. He was also connected to a saline drip that did not work. In the evenings, the nurse came and gave what appeared to be blood thinning injections in the stomach but actually it was just plain water as we discovered on a check up back in the UK. I did ask the nurse in Konkani whether the equipment was for decoration. Her expression was, as with most of our people, dumb founded. The doctor advised that my friend was not fit for travel. We then informed him that we would be travelling anyway and to disconnect all the wired up stuff which continued to stay on all day. By 7pm in the evening, the doctor had gone home. In order words he will have been overcharging on a daily charge rate. I checked my friend's pulse and it seemed normal. Assuming his blood pressure would be okay, unlike tyre pressure or boiler pressure, we made an executive decision, removed all the wired up bits and asked the nurse for the bill. The doctor then turned up from his house next door, phoned the cardiologist for her cut and calculated an extortionate bill for my friend's stay in the hospital. Bearing in mind 24 hour care is available in Goa, a spare bed is provided for relations to keep watch on the patient and they also have to come with home made food that has no bearing on the condition of the patient. Had this been a normal hospital I doubt the issue would be the same. I will be travelling to Goa in December and make it a point to visit the Government hospital in Mapusa so that your question on renumeration can be fully answered. Lessons are learnt but never applied. Perhaps someone in authority can tell us how the Goa health care system works. Whether administrative peon or senior sirs with their administrative skills left over from British India. Where does the local public and visitors address their grievances to in what appears to be an unregulated free for all so called medical care? The insurance companies need to get involved in this matter as this means higher premiums for travel insurance to cover unnecessary costs. NB: An ECG reading should take no more than ten minutes with a print out on graph paper telling the medical technician what the heart rate is. Best regards. Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, CR7 8HJ 8 July 2014
Re: [Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
Dear Melvyn, Thank you for your long but well written post. I can actually visualise that experience. It mirrors mine.when my Mum took ill in Goa. But, that was not the point I was making.(pl see Appendix 1) My only point was this: For private medical practices to run, it is IMPORTANT that the physician gets reasonably compensated for his/her services. Accordingly, it is crucial that the physician's office ascertains HOW the compensation will be organised BEFORE the physician touches the patient. There are many other facets involved in health insurance and what it covers. That is a topic for another day. I will conclude this post by expressing my astonishment at the following from today's post from you: 1: the nurse came and gave what appeared to be blood thinning injections in the stomach but actually it was just plain water as we discovered on a check up back in the UK. 2: An ECG reading should take no more than ten minutes with a print out on graph paper telling the medical technician what the heart rate best jc ---Appendix 1 On Jul 6, 2014, at 5:46 AM, Melvyn Fernandes mel...@orange.net wrote: In Goa, just like Spain and Greece, private doctors behave like car mechanics and before treatment demand to know how they are going to be paid and what insurance or credit card their patient has rather than putting their patient's needs first. My dear Melvyn, Are you suggesting that private doctors in Goa should not be doing that? Or that it is, in some way, unethical to do that? Additionally, should private doctors expect to be compensated (reasonably) for their services? If so, how else do they ensure that they will be compensated ? jc --Appendix 2-- On Jul 8, 2014, at 9:27 AM, Melvyn Fernandes mel...@orange.net wrote: Dear JC There are doctors and there are doctors. In Goa some behave like unscrupulous taxi drivers when it comes to charging as our people are easily frightened and believe that their lives are in the hands of doctors who take advantage of this belief. These doctors need to be reminded they are not God and that there is a higher authority that will assist sincere doctors and their assistants who take pride in patient care duties at whatever the nominal rate is. Unlike others who can only see money first regardless of patient care. My experience of this was when a friend of mine took ill in Goa last year having had lunch at a beach shack in Candolim. To cut a long story short, he had food poisioning. What happened, a Goa government ambulance was called from Mapusa to the residence in Candolim. The ambulance crew was very professional (full marks to them) and took an ECG reading on their antiquated mobile equipment. They then took another ECG reading fitted inside the ambulance which I travelled in and got a more accurate picture. A friend of his stopped the ambulance from proceeding to the Government hospital in Mapusa and we were directed to a private teaching hospital in Candolim. The building looked all professional and we had to sign some paperwork discharging the ambulance crew. There was no cost involved up to this point. At the hospital the doctor and the cardiologist would have frightened anyone with no medical knowledge as their expressions and theatorical performance indicated he was in a critical condition. Food poisioning makes you weak. He was wired up to an antiquated ECG machine that will have been redundant in Europe and we were asked to watch the monitor. Something like the sonar machine from Thunder Birds. He was connected to an oxygen supply that had no oxygen coming out. Had he urgently needed oxygen he would have brain dead. He was also connected to a saline drip that did not work. In the evenings, the nurse came and gave what appeared to be blood thinning injections in the stomach but actually it was just plain water as we discovered on a check up back in the UK. I did ask the nurse in Konkani whether the equipment was for decoration. Her expression was, as with most of our people, dumb founded. The doctor advised that my friend was not fit for travel. We then informed him that we would be travelling anyway and to disconnect all the wired up stuff which continued to stay on all day. By 7pm in the evening, the doctor had gone home. In order words he will have been overcharging on a daily charge rate. I checked my friend's pulse and it seemed normal. Assuming his blood pressure would be okay, unlike tyre pressure or boiler pressure, we made an executive decision, removed all the wired up bits and asked the nurse for the bill. The doctor then turned up from his house next door, phoned the cardiologist for her cut and calculated an extortionate bill for my friend's stay in the hospital. Bearing in mind 24 hour care is available in Goa, a spare bed is provided for
[Goanet] Travel advice to UK nationals travelling to Goa and other parts of the world (Response to JC)
Melvyn Fernandes melvyn at orange.net on Tue Jul 8 06:27:16 PDT 2014 wrote: There are doctors and there are doctors. In Goa some behave like unscrupulous taxi drivers when it comes to charging as our people are easily frightened and believe that their lives are in the hands of doctors who take advantage of this belief. These doctors need to be reminded they are not God and that there is a higher authority that will assist sincere doctors and their assistants who take pride in patient care duties at whatever the nominal rate is. Unlike others who can only see money first regardless of patient care. My experience of this was when a friend of mine took ill in Goa last year having had lunch at a beach shack in Candolim. To cut a long story short, he had food poisioning. What happened, a Goa government ambulance was called from Mapusa to the residence in Candolim. The ambulance crew was very professional (full marks to them) and took an ECG reading on their antiquated mobile equipment. They then took another ECG reading fitted inside the ambulance which I travelled in and got a more accurate picture. A friend of his stopped the ambulance from proceeding to the Government hospital in Mapusa and we were directed to a private teaching hospital in Candolim. The building looked all professional and we had to sign some paperwork discharging the ambulance crew. There was no cost involved up to this point….. http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2014-July/699755.html COMMENT: Well, whom do you place the blame on, for your experience? 1- The Goa government which does not have adequate Health care facilities? 2- The Private Medical care Centres which have their own unregulated private agenda? 3- The public/relative who make a decision as to where the patient concerned should be admitted? 4- The patient himself who does not make adequate plans as to his decision in case of any medical emergency? Come on! You people write as though you all are so learned, and that you still did not have a plan made as to where to go, or to be taken in case of a medical emergency? Are these not part and parcel of Safety Procedures for travel? You’ll exhibit complete complacency in decisions on your health, well being, as well as your life, on unknown people?! Dr. Ferdinando dos Reis Falcão.
