Patients fend for themselves as blood supply dries up at civil hospital

LUDHIANA: The city needs about 583 units of blood every month, but the demand is usually met by live donors who are arranged by patients on their own or NGOs at the time of need. According to the Punjab Online Blood Bank Management System, Ludhiana Civil hospital has the lowest availability of blood in Punjab, with only 28 units available for two to three days.Out of the 28 units of blood available, there are six units of A+, eight units of B+, seven units of O+, six units of AB+, and one unit of B negative.
Officials handling the blood transfusion department say this is in line with demand in the city. But in the civil hospital, blood is generally unavailable or is arranged only after two to three days. Manoj Singh of Tibba Road, who was in the Civil Hospital last week with his cousin said, "I shifted my cousin, who was admitted in the civil hospital to a private hospital as the care was not good enough. After the accident, his condition turned critical but they arranged blood only after two days. Now, we have found a live donor and shifted him to the private hospital. Timely availability of blood is a major issue."
Civil hospitals in other cities have greater availability of blood. The highest is that of Amritsar at 560 units, followed by Barnala at 326 units, Fazilka at 114 units, Gurdaspur at 42 units, Hoshiarpur at 137 units including three branches, Jalandhar at 36 units, Kapurthala at 67 units and Moga at 75 units. Even small towns like Rupnagar have 36 units for two to three days at the Civil Hospital blood bank.
Even though the rate of blood at the Ludhiana civil hospital is the lowest at Rs 500 per unit, patients and their families are forced to buy blood from private hospitals, which costs them between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000. If they have to take the blood out of the hospital, they are charged Rs 400 extra. It's difficult for patients to find donors as they avoid donation due to seasonal changes, commercialization of the blood business, feelings of apathy at having to face difficulties when they need blood themselves and more.
"Availability of units of blood in Ludhiana civil hospital is in line with demand. Annually, Ludhiana needs about 6,000 units to 7,000 units of blood, depending on the estimate of blood demand over the last two to three months. Amritsar has the highest availability as it has considerable demand and is a major health care centre. We plan several campaigns in different cities to meet the demand," said Dr Sukhwinder Singh, joint director, blood safety and quality assurance, State Blood Transfusion Council, Punjab.
Ramesh Singh, a social activist said, "Whenever I have taken patients, blood was unavailable. If the civil hospital blood bank cannot cater to patients, what hope would other residents have?" Of the two blood banks registered from Ludhiana, Red Cross Blood Bank is unavailable. Patiala blood bank is not available online.