BENGALURU: Government hospitals in Bengaluru on Thursday were well prepared to manage the extra footfall anticipated from the strike by private hospitals. “We have placed additional doctors in every department, we have also requested for extra beds, we are well prepared to tackle the situation,” said Dr Geetha Shivamurthy, Medical Superintendent, Vani Vilas hospital. “There is an increase in emergency cases too. On Wednesday, we had only 28 admissions through 108 helpline, but on Thursday it went up to 48,” she added. The authorities made special arrangements at the diagnostics department also. “We have called back all the nurses who were on leave. We are utilising the services of nursing students as well,” said Yeshodha R, Public Relations Officer of a lab at Victoria hospital.
“We were asked not to close for lunch break and also work for an hour extra,” said Jayalakshmamma, working with the OPD ticket counter at Minto Eye Hospital. The trend was sharper in the outpatient department. “On Wednesday, till evening we had only 78 new patient admissions, whereas on Thursday it crossed 100 at noon itself,” said Poornima M, a nurse at the surgery OPD of Victoria Hospital. “We have brought four extra doctors in every department, we have also increased our bed capacity,” said Dr BN Gangadhar, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). “On a normal day we have close to 300 patients, but on Thursday we had over 477 admissions, with most of them coming from general OPD,” he added. A few patients suffered because they had no information about the strike. “My wife has been sick from the past few days, I took her to a clinic nearby, but it was closed, so we had to come here,” said Krishna Mohan from Chandra Layout who had come to Victoria hospital.