HYDERABAD: As many as 157 patients, including women, at the Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda, who were declared fit for discharge by the hospital’s discharge committee are still confined within the four walls of the inpatient wards, highly placed sources revealed. They are in the age group of 20 to 60 years and hail from different parts of the country.
Sources said that some of them have been waiting to be rehabilitated for the past six to nine years, such that their case sheets which should be ideally in a few pages have become hardbound books of up to 700 pages.
“Most of the patients are in good mental health. They can recall details of where they are from, their names and those of their family members. There is every need to rehabilitate them,” sources said.
The issue was brought to light by an e-mail from an anonymous person addressed to chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Governor ESL Narasimhan, director of medical education (DME) Dr K Ramesh Reddy and other state health officials. Express has independently investigated the claims made in the e-mail and found truth in some of the key charges levelled.
Latest statistics available with Express reveal that there are 95 patients in the male closed ward who are ready to be discharged. Similarly, in the female closed ward, 62 out of 90 women are ready to be discharged.Hospital officials confirmed the situation and said some family members do not turn up to take their recovered kin home. Aside from the violation to the human rights of the patients, the situation has contributed to overcrowding at the Institute.
Physical abuse alleged
The e-mail also alleged that overcrowding was forcing patients to sleep on the floor and leading to spread of skin diseases. Alarmingly, the e-mail also alleges that inmates are physically abused by staff.
Health crises?
Some of the patients admitted at the IMH suffer chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Sources Express spoke to said that there were chances of the more vulnerable facing health crises. Although the hospital has Acute Psychiatric Care unit and a Medical ICU, in case of specialised medical services such as cardiology, patients have to be taken to other hospitals.
Even in case of shifting a patient to other hospitals, the hospital has only one Tata Sumo, which is used for administrative work, and no ambulance.