A page from a Doctor’s Diary

LOOKING THROUGH THE HOSPITAL CORRIDORS

Hospitals are places where life unfolds in its truest forms—birth, healing, pain, and sometimes loss. For most of us working in a hospital, our days are fast paced. They are measured in patient rounds, surgeries, emergencies, clinics, meetings, academics, audits and reports. In the middle of all this, it is easy to forget that the people who stand beside us, supporting the system in quiet ways, have their own stories too.

The other day, after finishing a surgery, I happened to overhear one of our support staff members speaking to someone about her married daughter. I was surprised—I had never realized she had a daughter who was already grown up and married. Almost playfully, I asked her if she was soon going to be a grandmother! Her face fell, and with sadness in her voice, she told me that her daughter had recently suffered a miscarriage.

I was taken aback. In that moment, I realized how little we often know about the lives of those who work around us. Even though her thoughts are constantly with her daughter and she grieves quietly, she continues to perform her duties without any fuss. We—the doctors, nurses, and medical teams—are at the forefront. But those who clean the wards, carry supplies, or ensure the smallest of tasks are done, often remain invisible in the system. And yet, they are so important to it—working with dignity while carrying burdens that most of us never see.

That brief exchange was a reminder to me that compassion cannot be limited to patients alone. It has to extend to everyone we encounter in these corridors. Sometimes, all it takes is a pause, a gentle question, or even silent acknowledgment that behind every uniform is a human being with joys, sorrows and unspoken battles.

As carers, we must remember: even carers need care at times. And perhaps the true spirit of healing begins not just in how we treat our patients, but in how we treat each other too.