Hyderabad, April 06: When a 22-year-old student, Srikanth, who suffered 60 percent burns in an act of self-immolation recently, was rushed for medicare, his kin were made to knock on the doors of three hospitals before they finally got admission at the Gandhi Hospital. Another victim, P Jayamma, (28) who attempted suicide a few days ago, also met with a similar fate.
Tragically, they were turned away not due to any legal or medical reasons, but simply because the hospitals either lacked a burns ward altogether or the one they had was too small for even a few patients.
It’s strange but true that of the dozen or more government hospitals offering superspecialty services in the twin cities, only two – the Gandhi General Hospital and the Osmania General Hospital – have proper burns wards but both lack enough beds forcing the patients to either accept a place on the floor or look for an alternative hospital.
The Osmania General Hospital has three burns wards – acute ward, male and female wards – but none of them have sufficient room to accommodate the growing rush of patients, according to Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Dr Kavita.
“We are fully equipped to treat burns cases but the 40 beds, 12-15 in each ward, are woefully inadequate to take in the increased flow of patients forcing us to turn away many cases,” she told Expresso.
“At six to 10 cases a day, the flow is too much to handle even for the 60-bed burns ward in our hospital. Often, patients are forced to lie on the floor,” admitted Dr Bittatham, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) of Gandhi Hospital.
Dhana Lakshmi, mother-in-law of Jayamma currently undergoing treatment at the Gandhi Hospital, said Jayamma, after a suicide attempt recently, was first taken to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) where she was referred to the Osmania which allegedly denied admission for want of beds and, in turn, referred her to the Gandhi Hospital. “Even at Gandhi Hospital she was denied admission on the same ground, but after hours of pleading she was finally given a place on the floor of the ward,” Dhana Lakshmi said.
A tragic situation indeed, especially when burns cases are on the rise in the twin cities at an average of 10 a day due to mishaps and suicide bids, another alarming development!
–Agencies–