Amritsar: Lack of seating arrangement at govt hospital irks patients
Manmeet Singh Gill
Amritsar, August 30
In the absence of adequate seating arrangements in government hospital, patients and their attendants can often be seen squatting on the floor while waiting for their turn.
Can cause infections
- Floors in hospitals are contaminated with bacteria and other pathogens and can result in passing on infections to those who squat on them
- Besides giving physical discomfort and hitting dignity of those sitting on the ground, hospital floors are not cleaned and sanitised regularly
- In the absence of a dedicated area for attendants, they can be seen having their meals while sitting on the floor outside patients’ wards.
Besides giving physical discomfort and hitting dignity of those sitting on the ground, the hospital floors are not cleaned and sanitised so that one can sit on them without any fear of getting an infection.
Floors in hospitals are contaminated with bacteria and other pathogens and can result in passing on infections to those who squat on them.
While health officials blame it on the huge rush of patients caused by a number of government health schemes, it still is the responsibility of the government to provide comfortable and clean waiting areas to patients.
As one enters the emergency block of Government Medical College, the only tertiary care medical facility in the Majha belt catering to the needs of patients from across the state, one finds helpless and desperate patients waiting for their turn at the registration counter set up for Ayushman Bharat Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY).
The beneficiaries have to get their files prepared from the counter to be able to get the benefits under the government insurance scheme, which offers free medical treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh.
A visitor to the hospital suggested, “If more registration counters are set up, it will help expedite the registration work and people would have to spend half a day in merely getting the file ready.”
Another place in the same institute where attendants accompanying patients can be seen squatting or lying on the ground is outside the gynaecology delivery rooms in the Bebe Nanki Mother and Child Care centre.
In the absence of a dedicated area for attendants, they can be seen having their meals while sitting on the floor outside patients’ wards.
Visitors to the hospital demand that dedicated waiting and meal areas should be created in the government hospitals so that they can spend their time in a dignified manner.
