NEW DELHI: Amid constant commotion and chaos, 25-year-old Rakhi with an ovarian cyst waited three hours to get her check-up done. Her delivery is due this month. Her family was in a dilemma following a communication gap. Neetu was admitted to hospital following heavy bleeding.
This was the scene at the OPD of Lady Hardinge Government College, where hundreds of frantic patients were waiting to be treated. With caesarean-section deliveries on the rise in private hospitals, people generally prefer going to government hospitals, but government hospitals are failing to offer better facilities owing to poor infrastructure.
The Sunday Standard team found that wards were crowded with two patients sharing one bed, and people sat on the floor in the waiting. Toilets were overflowing with blood and filth acting as breeding ground for disease-causing insects.
Anita, 28, who was sharing bed with another patient, said, “The washrooms are so dirty that one can’t stand there for a second.” The kin of women huddled outside to donate blood as mandated by the doctors before an operation. However, many patients pointed out that despite donating blood, transfusion was not taking place.
Patients and their attendants claimed the staff was very rude, and whenever a baby is born, helpers and sweepers seek bakshish (token amount) to celebrate the birth. CMO Nikunj Jain said, “The blood bank is a buffer for us. We keep the bank running for the destitute and patients in emergency. If blood is not used for transfusion during delivery, it is sent to the blood bank.”