At CMCH, wheelchairs, stretchers used to move trash, not patients

As a result, patients not only have to wait for a long time for access to these mobility aids but it also takes a toll on the equipment’s condition.
The wheelchairs and stretchers are both mobility aids used to transport ill people and are used mostly for goods and waste transportation at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital in Coimbatore on Tuesday.
The wheelchairs and stretchers are both mobility aids used to transport ill people and are used mostly for goods and waste transportation at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital in Coimbatore on Tuesday.(Photo | S Senbagapandiyan.)
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COIMBATORE: The wheelchairs and stretchers which ideally should be used in hospitals to shift patients or people with disabilities or others for whom walking is impossible, are purportedly being used for transporting goods and waste at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Over the last two days (Monday and Tuesday), TNIE observed on around 30 occasions wherein the hospital staff were seen using wheelchairs and stretchers for non-medical purposes, primarily for transporting waste accumulated in wards.

As a result, patients not only have to wait for a long time for access to these mobility aids but it also takes a toll on the equipment’s condition.

Temporary staff handling this service told TNIE that there is no other option for moving large number of files and waste at the hospital.

K Revathi, wife of a cancer patient admitted to the hospital, alleged, “The electric vehicle for patient mobility operates only on the premises, not inside the blocks. Those who can’t walk and need mobility assistance to go for medical examinations, they have to ask the hospital staff for help. But the situation at CMCH is a cause for concern, as most mobility aids are mainly used for transporting goods. They often have to wait for at least 20 minutes to get a wheelchair or a stretcher because they are in use for a different purpose than the one intended for.”

Additionally, she alleged that the staff that provide this wheelchair and stretcher service also charge (at least Rs 20) for shifting patients.

A woman staff member, who was moving waste bundles on a wheelchair, told TNIE, “We need a separate mechanism for carrying waste or files. The lack of resources at the hospital forces us to repurpose wheelchairs and stretchers.”

CMCH Dean A Nirmala told TNIE that they are taking steps to procure vehicles specifically for handling waste and have instructed the staff not to use wheelchairs and stretchers for other purposes. “We had waste-collecting pushcarts. But the staff complained that they were not easy to use, so we allow one or two stretchers to be used for handling waste temporarily. We are working on designing lightweight waste-collection vehicles and procuring motorised vehicles through CSR funds. I will address this issue and instruct the staff to avoid such practices,” she said.

CMCH, the biggest government-run tertiary care hospital in the region, has been handling 3,500 to 4,750 outpatients and 1,400 to 1,750 inpatients daily.

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