Table 3 Key themes identified by health professionals with illustrative quotes
Theme | Quote |
|---|---|
Lack of awareness of first aid burn care among community members | “But madam, we have to provide First Aid, patients can’t do it for themselves.” [Nurse, Public Hospital] “Lack of awareness is a big issue. Appropriate first aid can go a long way.” [Resident, Public Hospital] “You would be surprised that even doctors do not know what to do in case of chemical burns, not water alkali- right! There is need for IEC material (information, education and communication materials) both for public and health professionals.” [General Surgeon, Charitable Hospital] |
Human resource, training and stigma | “Man power is our biggest challenge.” [Consultant, Public Hospital] “Plastic surgeons don’t want to attend to burns patients. We as general surgeons do a range of surgeries, we can manage till wound healing. However after that I do not feel confident for splinting- that I am providing the best treatment to these patients.” [General Surgeon, Public Hospital] |
Infrastructure and resources | “Dressing is an issue, it is very expensive. We use banana leaves, there is clinical evidence - you can see publication on this by Dr Gore.” [Senior Resident, Public Hospital] “Stretchers, sterilization and mobility can be challenging.” [Physiotherapist, Public Hospital] “We run a skin bank. As you can see here it is not cheap- the process takes days but prognosis is very good. Our outreach team has to put in a lot of effort to convince families and staff needs to ensure there is no bleeding. It is a very skilful job”. [Microbiologist, Not-for-profit Hospital] |
Lack of standardization in treatment practices | “We don’t have standardised referral procedures. It depends on availability of bed and degree of burns, patient prognosis between emergency departments, burns and general surgery” [Senior resident, Public Hospital] |
Lack of guidelines for rehabilitation | “There was this female patient and she was from a good family. She came back with contractures in her hand after 3 months. She was just lazy. She did not do the exercises we told her.” [Resident, Public Hospital] “It is very late in practice after years of experience that physicians begin to recognise the relevance of mental health in patient treatment.” [Consultant, Charitable Hospital] |