Hyderabad, April 15: When K Anjamma (name changed) attempted suicide by immolating herself, her family members initially rushed her to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS). Doctors there, however, referred her to the Osmania Hospital. But when they reached there, she was denied admission. Reason: lack of beds.
Subsequently, she was taken to the Gandhi Hospital. But there too she was denied admission for the same reason. The family members begged and pleaded before she was finally made to lie down on the floor to undergo treatment. “After a few hours of pleading, she was finally admitted into the burns ward and she has been undergoing treatment on the floor,’’ lamented Dhana Lakshmi, mother-in-law of Anjamma.
Like Anjamma, there are many persons, who attempted suicide by immolating themselves, who are being denied admission in both OGH and Gandhi Hospital due to ‘lack of beds’. Both these hospitals have fully-functioning burns wards. Doctors however say they were witnessing an abnormal increase in cases of self-immolation and it was difficult to accommodate them.
Despite more than a dozen government hospitals offering super-speciality services, only two government hospitals – Gandhi Hospital and OGH have burns wards to provide proper aid for burn injuries. “We are receiving three to four such cases everyday. Despite having a burns ward which has 40 beds, we are unable to accommodate more patients,’’ admits Dr Mohan Krishna, head of department, plastic surgery, Osmania General Hospital. With hospital authorities finding themselves in a fix, several patients are seen lying on the floor to receive treatment.
Dr Krishna said there are three burn wards in the hospital to provide proper treatment separately for men and women. “Of the total 40 beds available in the hospital, each ward has at least 12 to 15 beds. We are fully equipped with all facilities but due to lack of adequate beds, we are facing a tough challenge and are forced to deny admission to several patients who sustained burns accidentally or incidentally,’’ he said.
On average, reportedly at least 1,000 to 1,200 burns patients go either to the OGH or Gandhi Hospital.
–Agencies