Govind Sharma
JAMMU, Dec 11: The patients admitted in Shri Maharaja Gulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital Jammu are suffering badly, as due to acute crisis of beds two or three patients are bound to share one bed. Moreover, the condition of Labour Room and Neo-natal ICU is also worst.
One can always see more than one patient on a bed because sharing bed has become a compulsion here in SMGS Hospital, which is the biggest hospital of Jammu region and is known for its infrastructure and facilities in the adjoining districts but nowadays almost in every ward you can see lack of infrastructure and facilities.
Though there is huge rush of patients in every ward but the most suffering patients are of maternity wards where two or three patients have to adjust on a single bed that too with their new borns.
Same is the condition in pediatrics wards where one cannot find a single bed with one patient. On each bed, there are at least two patients that too suffering from separate diseases. In such a situation the chances of infection reaches to its peak.
The condition of Labour Room is also pathetic where there is no room for cleanliness. Two Neonatal ICUs of the hospital are also facing crunch of space. The neonatal suffering from various diseases are crowdedly lying beside each other. Besides, one can easily see the lizards freely crawling on the walls and mosquitoes sucking the blood of helpless neo-natals.
Sharing his tale of woes, one Prithvi Nath (65), an attendant with his wife admitted in maternity ward No 2 said, “This is the worst experience of our life. I have never seen such a hospital where patients are treated like animals. Two or three patients have been adjusted on each single bed. You can imagine how two or three women along with their new born babies are adjusting on a single bed. The situation worsens in case of mothers having twins.”
“My wife was shifted in this ward two days back after she delivered a baby and since then we have been sharing the bed with another patient who delivered baby after surgery. Since that day, we have been waiting for an empty bed. But what to think of an empty bed, we in these two days even did not find a bed with single patient. Every bed is occupied by at least two or three patients”, said Satish Kumar of Bathera, standing beside his ailing wife with baby in his hands.
Kunti Devi, a newly made mother admitted in Ward No 1 (Maternity) sharing her experience in Labour Room said, “There is no care of patients in Labour Room. Leaving the patients to cry in pain for hours, the nursing staff and junior doctors remain busy in gossips. Moreover, the nursing staff abuses the patients and shouts at them whenever they call them for help. The bed sheets are not changed timely and the new patients are asked to lay on the dirty and blood stained bed sheets. Senior doctors seldom visit there due to which nurses and junior doctors remains negligent.”
Describing the pathetic condition of infants in Neonatal ICUs, Moti Singh, a business man by profession, who was sitting on the floor in front of the door of Neo-natal ICU of old block, said, “No doubt doctors are providing round the clock treatment to ailing infants in Neo-natal ICUs and examining them after regular intervals of time but it is also a fact that due to lack of space in Neo-natal ICUs, ailing infants have been laid on the beds with no space between them. In these conditions there is every possibility of spreading infection among them.”
“For last 7 days I along with my husband, am sitting on the floor here in front of Neo-natal ICU of old block, said Mamta Devi, whose premature baby was under observation in Neo-natal ICU. She said this is not only our case; like us many others are bound to sit here day and night, as there is no waiting hall.
“We have to remain present there as after every 2 hours the guard on duty gives a call for feeding babies. But we are forced to go away from here whenever Medical Superintendent or CMO comes on a round or Safai Karamcharis come to broom the floor”, she added and pleaded that a waiting hall be made near Neo-natal ICU of old block so that attendants might wait there uninterruptedly.
However, when contacted Principal, GMC Jammu, Dr Ghanshyam Dev, also admitted that there is shortage of wards due to which patients have to share beds but he attributed this mainly to increasing rush of patients and the ongoing repair and restoration work of some of the existing wards. Same is the case of Neo-natal ICU, as the repairing work of one of the two neo-natal ICUs, which is new block, is going on, as there were complaints of leakage of water from its roof.
When asked what steps the hospital is going to check this maladjustment, he said we have already submitted a proposal to the Government for creating more wards to facilitate the patients and as soon as we received funds, the work will be initiated on this project.
On unhygienic conditions of Labour Room and Neo-Natal ICUs, he said the matter will be looked into and he will personally speak to the concerned medical superintendent on the issue and ask him to take immediate steps for maintaining cleanliness.
Regarding the demand of a waiting hall in front of Neon-natal ICU of old block, he said we are already working on it and hopefully in the coming year when we received funds a waiting hall will be got constructed there so that attendants particularly mothers of the infants may not suffer.
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