Long queues at Civil Hospital trouble patients

The visitors to Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital here have to wait for hours just to get the OPD registration slip as long queues are seen at the registration counter every day. A visitor to the hospital on Monday reported that it took him three hours just to get the OPD slip.

"I came at around 9 am. First, I had to procure a token and then I stood in another line for registration slip," he said adding that a sick person having to stand in the queue for three hours is not just frustrating but inhumane.

Those standing in the queue included the elderly, women and disabled. The visitors demanded that the hospital management depute more employees and open another registration counter to reduce the queues. Though the hospital has put up a notice mentioning separate registration counter for senior citizens, no one was seen sitting there.

"Making people wait for hours to get the registration slip, and that too when someone is sick, is not right. After getting the slip, one has to wait again to see the doctor but at least the OPD area has seating arrangements," said a visitor, Balkar Singh.

The visitors complained that an entire day is spent in getting registration slip, waiting in the OPD and then standing in the queue at the pharmacy to get the medicines.

To add to the woes of the visitors, one of the two lifts at the hospital is non-functional. People have to use stairs to reach the upper floors. Even basic amenities like clean drinking water and toilets are unavailable for the visitors.

In one of the washrooms on the ground floor, the door of the toilets was seen broken. Another washroom on the first floor was seen locked from outside. A drinking water kiosk inside the hospital was dirty while another one had its taps missing.