Dumping Syndrome

If you do read news about the greens, efforts in saving the environment and recycling, you’ll realise that our little planet sure do have a huge load of rubbish. Methods of disposal (proper or improper) is another different story altogether. I’d say that a large percentage of our rubbish are not managed adequately, thus driving Mother Earth to illness.

Before I go on, let us remind ourselves about rubbish and its definition: worthless, unwanted material that is rejected or thrown out; debris; litter; trash.

Anyway, as a doctor, I see a different kind of rubbish being dumped almost on a daily basis: humans i.e. the elderly, handicapped, incapicatated, mentally ill, mentally challenged, terminally ill, invalids. The dumping ground? Well, none other than my workplace – the hospital.

I blogged earlier about this patient named LCS who was inconsiderately planned for discharge when his home and family were not ascertained. Today I called up his sister-in-law’s house number… the only contact he had in his memory. I politely informed her that LCS is ready for discharge but the family must be ready to care for him as he is still recovering from his multiple long bone fractures rendering him temporarily bedridden.

Then I’m bombarded by a million excuses:

“We’re all busy. We work in Singapore. We leave in early morning and come home only at night. We have no time. We cannot afford a home nurse or maid to look after him. We have no money. There are a couple of us but we all leave quite far apart. No, you can’t send him back to the village because my mother is old with diabetes and hypertension so she cannot take care of him as well. Can he stay in the hospital instead?”

“If you can’t take care of him, maybe you can put him in a nursing home for the time being. Get everyone in the family to chip in. There are some homes that offer affordable services.”

“But I’ve no experience in all these. I don’t know who, how and where. Can he stay in the hospital instead?”

“I can help you. We have a list of suggestions that you can call up and find the most suitable home for him around JB. Can you come over and pick up the list as soon as possible?”

“I cannot come soon. Maybe only the weekend. Why can’t he stay in the hospital?”

“As I’ve told you, he’s ready for discharge like a few days ago. He needs to recuperate at home and not the hospital. Furthermore, the ward is so congested and full of germs. He will heal better at home, and then come back for appointment to see the orthopaedic and psychiatric doctor.”

“But he’s in such a bad shape we have no idea to take care of him. Can’t the hospital take care of him instead?”

“You haven’t even visited him how do you know he’s that bad? Besides, this is a hospital Mdm, not a nursing home or charity centre.”

“Can’t he like stay in the hospital for maybe a month?”

“No, like I said, he’s ready for discharge. Can you come over to pick up the list I told you earlier and then proceed to find a home for him?”

“Can you find a home for him instead?

At this point, I was boiling. Not again, the Dumping Syndrome. I took some time to make her realise that she is his family, no matter how disgusting or needy this person may be. There is a limit how much a doctor can help. When she finally agreed to find a home for this “unwanted patient”, she refused to give me her handphone number or that or other relatives. She even gave me some lame excuses like all of them had phone numbers registered in Singapore. As if I can’t make a call to Singapore. I decided not to force her further as I was about to explode. I needed to end the conversation stat.

So there you are, another case of Dumping Syndrome. Humans just get dumped in the hospital, especially when they are “worthless” in the eyes of their family and society. Oh yes, and you do get to see this more when nearing festive seasons. This is how the public abuses our health system where public health services are either FOC or charged to a mere minimum.

In times like this, I just feel like strangling the dumpers. They fail to realise that someday, they will be dumped the same way too. May they enjoy it to the fullest when the day comes.

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