HYDERABAD: Those renal failure patients from other districts whose Aarogyasri Cards are not registered at Osmania General Hospital, and those from other States, are being forced to shell out up to Rs 1,500 for dialysis tubes. Doctors from the hospital said that as per existing norms, the tubes and other medical resources can be provided only to those who have registered their Aarogyasri cards with the hospital.
The situation puts poor people in a fix as they have to arrange money immediately. Only last week there arose one such situation where a patient from Khammam, who was admitted at Nephrology ward of the hospital, was asked to buy dialysis tubes. Sources said that a patient Gopaiah (28) was in immediate need of dialysis on Friday. “We were asked to buy the dialysis tubes to start the procedure. We had only `2,000 with us of which, we spent `1,500 on buying the dialysis tubes and the rest on other expenses. There was no money to return to our home,” said Gopaiah’s brother Venkateshwarlu. Sources stressed that the Nephrology department must resolve the issue at the earliest so that patients from other districts do not face hurdles.
When enquired about the issue, doctors at the hospital confirmed that the existing rules are causing problem to many patients who are not registered with the hospital or belong to other States. “There are standing orders not to provide dialysis tubes even to Aarogyasri card holder if he/she is not registered with OGH or come from other State. But the issue has to be cleared with Aarogyasri Trust,” a doctor said. “When the issue was taken to notice of the superintendent Dr B Nagendar, he said, “I will discuss this with the Nephrology department’s professor and resolve it.”