HYDERABAD: While the Gandhi Medical College and Hospital is touted as the best government tertiary-care hospital, the facility continues to struggle under the burden of poor infrastructure and an overwhelming patient load.
Sources said several infrastructure-related issues plague the hospital, which has a capacity of 2,200 beds. According to official figures, it sees over 1,500 outpatient department (OPD) registrations, 150 inpatient department (IPD) admissions and 25-30 emergency cases daily.
However, doctors at the hospital told TNIE that the actual daily patient flow in the OPD ranges between 1,800 and 2,100, while the IPD records around 1,100 admissions and at least 300-400 emergency cases. At the IP registration desk, at least 100 people could be seen waiting at any given time.
A recent surprise visit by the state health minister exposed the issue of doctors being absent from duty. Several on-duty doctors were found missing from their respective wards during shift hours.
The eight-floor inpatient building, which houses AMC units for various departments, lacks a proper waiting area and seating facilities. This situation forces attendants of patients admitted to the hospital to sit or sleep on the floor. Many attendants inside the wards have also been found eating and sleeping on the floor.
On the eighth floor, outside the respiratory medicine administrative block, a pile of broken hospital beds lay abandoned, providing shelter for stray dogs. The hallways of the hospital remain littered with waste dumped in corners. The drinking water facility is also unhygienic as visitors often use the same taps meant for general use.
Lack of facilities in college
While patients and staff struggle with inadequate facilities at the hospital, the adjoining medical college also faces serious challenges.
The National Emergency Life Support (NELS) skill centre, housed in the college building and funded by the Union government, has remained locked since its inauguration three years ago.
A final-year MBBS student said, “This skill centre was inaugurated after Covid-19 for surgical training, but I have never seen it open in the last three years, except a few times for medicine lectures. If they opened it for hands-on surgical training, it would be of great help, but no one knows why it has never been put to use.”
Rejecting such claims, hospital superintendent Ch N Rajkumari told TNIE, “We have special skill centres for all the departments and they are functioning well. Students use the training centres regularly for hands-on training.”
Another major concern is the dysfunctional lifts, which remained out of order for over a year. Construction of new lifts only began a few months ago.
A postgraduate microbiology student, a regular visitor to the building, said, “The lifts have been out of use for at least a year. We have to climb stairs in this four-floor building. Even senior faculty members and students with mobility issues are forced to take the stairs every day. We are hoping the new lifts will be installed soon, but looking at the pace of work, it might take another three to four months to complete.”
Students also raised concerns about the poor hygiene in the college canteen.
A third-year student from Malkajgiri said, “The food quality was better before Covid, and the seating area was decent. But after the pandemic, the vendors have been changed several times, and the food has become worse. We have seen rats and cockroaches in the kitchen, so we stopped eating here.”