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How to find a good surgeon
If you have free-choice insurance or Mediclaim - or lots of money - you can generally choose any surgeon you want. One way is simply to ask your doctor to recommend someone. For complicated or unusual surgery, ask your doctor for the name of a surgeon recognised nationwide as an expert in your operation. Then contact that surgeon and ask for a recommendation in your locality.You then have to find out whether the surgeon:- Has a good reputation for technical skill.
- Gets involved in preoperative and postoperative care.
- Has a history of patient complaints, malpractice suits, or disciplinary actions.
When you've identified a likely surgeon, make an appointment and come prepared to ask questions about your condition and the prospective surgery.
Be wary of surgeons who try to push you into having an operation without fully explaining the pros and cons, the alternative treatments, and the possible consequences of simply waiting.
Some hospital dangers seem to go with the territory. Hospitals are breeding grounds for infection, including potentially deadly infections, which are resistant to antibiotics. That's because hospitals house many infected patients, and people with low immune systems are easy victims. Negligence while using invasive devices, such as needles and catheters, can carry germs easily from one body into another.Another danger: Medication mix-ups. The average hospital patient receives ten different drugs; these often have look-alike labels or sound-alike names, and are prescribed by many different specialists who either don't communicate with one another or who leave notes in cryptic handwriting.
Human error - which exists everywhere - can be disastrous in hospitals. Doctors and nurses who fail to wash their hands between patients can spread infections. Busy nurses may mistake micrograms for milligrams and give wrong drug doses, or mistake one patient for another and give the wrong drug. Surgeons occasionally forget to remove a sponge or clamp before sewing the patient up; a few have even operated on the wrong side of the body.
Common mix-ups in hospitals
 Another danger: Medication mix-ups. The average hospital patient receives ten different drugs; these often have look-alike labels or sound-alike names, and are prescribed by many different specialists who either don't communicate with one another or who leave notes in cryptic handwriting. Human error - which exists everywhere - can be disastrous in hospitals. Doctors and nurses who fail to wash their hands between patients can spread infections. Busy nurses may mistake micrograms for milligrams and give wrong drug doses, or mistake one patient for another and give the wrong drug. Surgeons occasionally forget to remove a sponge or clamp before sewing the patient up; a few have even operated on the wrong side of the body.
And then get ready for homePatients often leave the hospital sooner and sicker than in the past. That makes planning for your discharge essential.
- Ask your doctor or surgeon for a list of the medications or devices you may need when you get home and for instructions on how to use them.
- Next, discuss how to prepare your home for your convalescence. For example, you may want to move to a downstairs bedroom, get an elevated toilet seat, move-obstructing furniture out of the way, and remove rugs.
- Finally, find out whether you'll need physical therapy, home nursing care, or a temporary stay in a rehabilitation facility.
If the hospital tries to discharge you before you feel ready, insist on talking first with your doctor. You shouldn't go home if you feel disoriented, faint, or unsteady, have pain that's not controlled by oral medication, can't go to the bathroom unassisted, or can't keep food or drink down.
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