HYDERABAD: Dasarth Rathod, a farmer from Adilabad, started at around 3 am on Monday from Adilabad, to be able to reach the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Erragadda before 10 am and take an early appointment to get his younger brother’s wife checked for depression. Family members alleged that though they were given token number 6, they were not allowed to meet the doctor even after 11.30 am.
Many like Rathod reach the hospital early to get the checkup done and returned to their far-off destinations after waiting for hours together.
Family members of people who visit IMH allege that staff there demand money to be allowed to meet doctors though appointment is confirmed and that those who pay money are given earlier appointments. Members of an NGO said that people were asked to pay anywhere around `500 or more to be allowed to meet family members admitted at the hospital.
“Others who came after us and paid money were allowed to meet the doctor, but not us,” alleged another of Rathod’s family members, who had to take a day off from work.
In another case, family members of a middle-aged man who was on a wheelchair at the OP Block, were waiting toget a doctor’s signature to admit the patient.
“My uncle is suffering from mental disability. In the morning, the staff person who was guarding the doctor’s door asked for `200 to allow us to meet the doctor,” the family member alleged. “People are asked `500 or more to be allowed to meet their family members admitted in the institute,” said the member of an NGO, seeking anonymity, who works for people suffering from mental disorders.
Officials of the institute, however, claim that they have not come across any such complaints of harassment for bribes by the staff.