CHENNAI: Twenty-three-year-old Priya (name changed) was taken to Government Hospital, Tambaram with a stomach ache in September. She was diagnosed with appendicitis, but the hospital asked her to go elsewhere for an operation despite having ample facilities required to perform the simple procedure.
Priya is not a one-off case and hospital staff claim that over 300 patients with minor conditions such as appendicitis and hernia in the last three months have been shown the door because the hospital doesn’t have permanent surgeons.
“Ever since the surgeons were transferred in July, all minor surgeries have been referred elsewhere” said a hospital worker.
While patients with means will have to shell out at least Rs 40,000 in a private hospital, those dependent on government healthcare will have to go to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) hospital which is 24 kilometres away.
“The RGGGH and Government Hospital at Chengalpattu are the only two hospitals where these surgeries are performed nearby. But, most of the cases are referred to RGGGH,” said a hospital official.
“Villages near Mudichur, Mambakkam and Urapakkam all depend on this hospital for these simple procedures which can have fatal consequences. The health department must immediately appoint surgeons,” said V Santhanam, a local activist.
Presently, two surgeons from other hospitals are called in on Tuesdays and Thursdays to attend to a few cases. But, nurses claimed that it was grossly inadequate.
“We have arranged two surgeons to handle operations after both our surgeons were transferred,” said a senior official in the Government Hospital, Tambaram, claiming permanent replacements would be assigned soon.
Mortuary overloaded
The hospital is said to receive at least three bodies for post-mortem everyday and with the old mortuary closed because of cooling issues, bodies are laid on the floor. Currently, only nine of the fifteen racks are functional.
An RTI petition reveals that the hospital received 1043 bodies for postmortem in 2017 alone. Hospital officials told Express that requests had been placed for a separate forensic wing because of the increase in body count.