Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital is multi-speciality on paper but lacks infra, water and medicine
Madho Rao, 60, was admitted for burning in the chest and acute pain early on Thursday morning. He has been lying on the bed in the common area with a drip, where some drill repair work was going on too.
Rao is not the only patient. Many other patients are silently suffering here. On paper, Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital is a 100-bedded 'multi-speciality' hospital that provides emergency and operative services, but the reality is different.
Sources here say that the hospital has been running on low staff with the barest minimum facility for the past many years. The lack of senior doctors has led the hospital staff to convert an ICU (Intensive Care Unit) into a store-room, where old books and furniture lies in the dust.
"We do baby deliveries here and run casualty ward without an ICU. Both the ICU and blood bank exist on paper, but take a look around and see if you can find one," said a doctor on condition of anonymity. "We are always short of staff and instruments. We have gone on strikes several times, but not much has been done," he added.
It isn't just infrastructure that is a major problem in the hospital. Just three days back, the nursing staff went out on a procession demanding furniture and water in the hospital. Of the 10 water coolers in the premises, nine are almost always out of order and the tenth one dispenses muddy/silty water. There are no chairs for the staff and most of the patients and nurses stand while working.
"This is a hospital and we cannot even provide clean water. There is no drinking water even for the staff. If the machines are repaired, they work for a couple of hours and then stop again," says a nursing staff. "Most of the people buy water from outside as there is no canteen/mess on the premises," she adds further.
Coming to medicine, a doctor in the casualty duty reveals that they have not had metered-dose inhalers (puffers) and anti-epileptic medicines for over a month.
"Patients are being turned down. Every government hospital keeps a backup stock of 3-4 months, even that is exhausted now. These medicines can be acquired free from the central government and the hospital authorities have been delaying the issue for a long time. If this goes on much longer, doctors here will soon go on strike," he said.
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