HYDERABAD: Resident doctors at Gandhi Hospital’s hostel are shelling out money from their own pockets to buy cots, mattresses, tables etc in their rooms, which should have been provided by the hospital management. The hostel rooms, located on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the hospital’s Out-Patient (OP) block, were allotted to them around an year ago. Though the hostel rooms are done with plush tiles, wardrobes and bathrooms, the furniture was not provided in some of the hostel rooms. Resident doctors are those who pursue post-graduation and perform duties at hospital.
Since they are supposed to be on the hospital premises round the clock to attend medical emergencies, accommodation is provided to them in the hospital. “When some of us were allotted the rooms, cots, tables and mattresses were not provided. So we had to spend money to buy the furniture and some bought only a mattress. Though cots are provided in some rooms, they are old,” a resident doctor said. The hospital’s deputy superintendent Dr Narsing Rao Netha said that they were looking into the issue and the furniture would be allotted to the hostels soon.
Faucets, taps, fire hoses stolen
The situation at these hostel rooms is such that anyone can walk in at any point of the day. Not only security is not provided to resident doctors and senior resident doctors, even faucets, taps and other fittings in unoccupied hostel rooms at Gandhi Hospital hostels were stolen. On several occasions, locked rooms were broken into or latches were removed to gain entry into the rooms located on three floors of the Out-Patient block. Resident doctors said that taps and faucets were intact when the rooms were allotted to them, but someone stole them.
“It is not only unoccupied hostel rooms, miscreants broke into an occupied room too. Around a month ago, someone gained entry into the hostel room of a female resident doctor when she was on duty and stole her laptop and cash. Though there are many hostel rooms, no one knew about it. It is only after the resident doctor returned to her room after six hours that she realised someone broke in,” the resident doctor said. He added, “More than the break-in, it is scary that the looter might have attacked the resident doctor if she walked in during the theft.”
This does not seem to be the first such incident. Staff of the hospital earlier said that miscreants stole all hoses which are crucial for fire safety. The hose pipes are missing from all boxes in-patient block. Deputy superintendent of the hospital Dr Narsing Rao Netha said that they have hired security personnel and anyone would be let into the hostel only after their identity is established.