Chapter 1410: Hospitalization and Emergency are Different
In the past, when the surgery department would consult, if the plan involved surgery, everyone knew that the surgery department emphasized technical skill. Understanding the expert’s intention was one thing, but executing it was another.
Whew. Director Zheng took a breath. The room was too hot, and he needed to calm down, saying, "That’s how it is with Crohn’s patients. Once various complications arise, it’s difficult to treat. The timing of surgery must be handled well."
"I don’t know how the surgery they did previously was performed, but it didn’t fully achieve the purpose of draining the pus. Now, after the patient was transferred to our hospital, they suddenly developed a high fever and convulsions, with the possibility of bleeding. Although this patient was introduced by Director Yang, in this situation, it’s basically very difficult for the surgery department to perform another operation," Li Guoxin said, pointing the blame at the doctor who decided to admit the patient into the surgery department today.
"They said you all discussed it in the emergency department and then decided to admit the patient to us," Director Zheng seemed to have asked Section Chief Yang a similar question, raising the issue.
"I wasn’t in the department during the day. They admitted him," Li Guoxin clarified. "They said Director Yang wanted to admit him, so how could I refuse."
Doctor Jiang was scratching his head. Director Yang actually wasn’t lying. In the emergency department, they decided to admit the patient to surgery after some academic debate. He later informed Li Guoxin of the situation at that time, but perhaps Li Guoxin didn’t remember or didn’t take it seriously.
Senior doctors are always very busy. Once a patient is admitted, they are admitted. It doesn’t matter what the situation was in the emergency department—as soon as they come in, treatment must follow the inpatient ward strategy. Once the attending physician takes over, the treatment plan follows the mind of the inpatient department’s attending physician, regardless of what previous doctors may have said.
"This is the situation, Director. We discussed it in the morning and unanimously agreed—" Doctor Jiang feared being later blamed by Section Chief Yang, so he stepped forward to explain again to the superiors, "The pus must be drained first, otherwise admitting them to internal medicine is useless, so they were admitted to our General Surgery Department One."
"For this patient to drain pus again, it would mean another surgery. He doesn’t have the condition for another surgery, don’t you know?" Li Guoxin scolded Doctor Jiang, advising that admitting patients should be done carefully and any issues should be clearly communicated with leaders, otherwise one ends up in an untenable situation like now.
The patient was transferred to Guoxie Emergency Department in the morning and the paperwork was completed to admit him to surgery ward with a bed near noon. This was a very swift admission process, but he didn’t encounter the attending physician, Li Guoxin.
Li Guoxin had a full day of surgeries to perform, and the three-tier hospital consistently had a high volume of surgical procedures. Surgery department doctors were too busy to loiter around the wards. Apart from the regular morning rounds, Li Guoxin generally wouldn’t be in the ward, being occupied with surgeries, emergency and outpatient consultations, meetings, research, and a multitude of tasks leaving no time for anything else. Doctors had numerous miscellaneous duties.
Also, according to the department’s usual practice, newly admitted patients in the ward are handled by the junior doctors for processing, to train their abilities. He would actually see the patients and medical records during the morning round the next day. Anyway, the newly admitted patients first undergo examinations. There is no rush to discuss until examination results are available. Doctors need data to specify treatment plans.
What happens if an emergency occurs with a newly admitted patient? According to General Surgery Department One’s rules, the attending physician must be present. Li Guoxin hurried here tonight, and upon understanding, found the situation of this patient to be more challenging than he imagined.