Faridabad hospital needs care to serve better

Bijendra Ahlawat

The Bhadshah Khan Civil Hospital in Faridabad city, which is one of the largest government hospitals in the state, is crying for attention. The hospital that takes care of several lakhs of residents of the city lacks proper maintenance and various basic facilities. 

The building of the 200-bed civil hospital, which receives over 2,000 patients every day, has started showing signs of deterioration. Inaugurated 13 years ago, the plaster of the building has started withering due to improper upkeep and maintenance. 

“Though the front portion of the hospital looks fine, it is the rear side that exposes the real condition of the building. One can notice that the plaster has come off and there is acute dampness in walls and windows are rusted,” says an employee. Unclean surroundings with ample growth of wild grass and weeds seem to be enough proof of the hospital facing issues regarding cleanliness, maintenance and horticulture. Other issues such as inadequate parking space, regular breakdown of the lift and a shortage of doctors, nurses, paramedics and a shortage of medicines continue to be the sore points. 

The emergency ward of the hospital has no trained MBBS doctor most of the times. Against the requirement of six doctors to provide critical care round the clock, the emergency ward has one or two doctors at the most, causing inconvenience to both hospital authorities and patients. In the absence of a proper cooling and exhaust system, the waiting hall of the OPDs remains hot and humid, compounding the suffering of patients and their attendants. The Health Department has failed to provide central air-conditioning that was promised when the hospital building was inaugurated by former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on November 19, 2006. 

Shortage of docs, nurses 

A perpetual shortage of doctors is one of the major problems that the hospital has been facing over the years. Against the sanctioned strength of a minimum of 55 doctors, it has 42 doctors, many of whom are busy in office duties, training or court work. Sometimes, patients in the Medicine OPD are attended to by chest specialists. Regular transfers and failure of the Health Department to appoint or depute more doctors to meet the increased workload has led to a crisis. Posts of various specialists, including a radiologist, orthopaedic and pathologist, are vacant for the past many years. The hospital is dependent on just 21 regular nurses against the sanctioned strength of 90. The situation has remained the same for over a decade.

Medicines in short supply

The hospital, including its casualty section, at times faces an acute shortage of basic medicines and even basic items such as bandage. It is common that attendants of patients in the emergency ward are asked to bring bandage and medicines from outside. “I brought a relative to the hospital for the treatment of an injury recently. We were shocked when we were told to procure bandage and glucose from outside,” says a local resident. 

He says that though bandage was made available in the emergency ward after someone’s intervention, they had to procure glucose from outside. “Both emergency ward and dressing room of the hospital are facing an acute shortage of basic items such as bandage, Betadine, glucose (DNS), gloves and masks that are used by doctors and nursing staff,” say hospital employees. Victims of animal bite are also asked to procure the anti-rabies vaccine from outside, as it is often out of stock in the hospital. 

Cleanliness a casualty

The hospital spread on several acres also lacks proper cleanliness inside the building and outside. Though the cleanliness work has been outsourced, regular strikes by sanitary workers and other issues continue to make things difficult. No cleaning or pruning of vegetation on the premises is done, resulting in unhygienic surroundings and growth of bacteria. 

Unorganised parking

There is no organised parking in the hospital and employees and visitors park their vehicles haphazardly. Though a private agency has been given the parking contract, vehicles are still parked disorderly. 

Non-functional lift

The main lift of the hospital remains out of order most of the times, forcing patients and doctors to use stairs or ramps.

Dr Savita Yadav, Principal Medical Officer (PMO) of the civil hospital, admits that there is a shortage of doctors, nurses and medicines in the hospital. She says that while the state government's warehouse at Gurugram provides 131 types of medicines, the hospital has to procure 30 to 40 types of medicines from other sources, for which a bill of Rs 50 lakh is pending. 

She says that they take up the issue of maintenance of the building and equipment with the Health Department regularly. The lift will be repaired or replaced soon, she adds.