Lucknow: Lack of beds to patient care, hospitals in poor health
A four-hour overnight spot check by HT exposes ailments in the healthcare system amid the harsh reality of unavailability of beds at KGMU Trauma Centre and elsewhere in Lucknow. Numerous patients are left with no option but to return home or take admission in pvt hosps. Not much seems to have changed even after the death of a patient at the Lari Cardiology Centre recently.
It was a long night of despair for patients and their relatives. Patience wore thin and dead ends were aplenty. There was no respite as getting a bed for a patient proved to be a Herculean task at government-run hospitals, particularly at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Trauma Centre in the state capital, a four-hour overnight spot check between 12 am and 4 am by Hindustan Times revealed.
With the hospitals overwhelmed by the sheer volume of patients, it seems these institutions are also in need of a healing touch.
AROUND 12 AM
Sample this. Parvez Alam, 32, waited with his ailing 73-year-old father on a stretcher right outside the main gate of King George’s Medical University (KGMU) Trauma Centre for over 30 minutes in the middle of the night, running from pillar to post, trying to secure a bed.
AT 12:50 AM
After waiting for over 30 minutes and getting papers from the hospital, he was referred to other government hospitals in the city. The time mentioned on the receipt says 12: 49 am
Observing patients and attendants going in and out for nearly four hours, it became clear that all district government hospitals were struggling to accommodate patients. They were referring the patients to other institutions to manage the load.
“After my father Hazrat Deen complained of shortness of breath, we took him from Sultanpur to Lucknow. It involved hours of travel. Now, I’m being referred to another hospital because of the unavailability of beds here after initial treatment,” Parvez said, cluelessly looking for an ambulance to take his father to Balrampur Hospital, a few kilometres from KGMU.
AROUND 1 AM
When asked, he said, “I’m calling an ambulance on 108, the driver says that it will take another 30 minutes to reach the location as he is driving down from Kakori.”
In order to save time, he enquired at the hospital helpdesk in front of the gate while showing his form, which said the patient had shortness of breath.
The form read, “Regret no ICU bed available, refer to Balrampur/RML/SGPGI/Civil.”
“Call the national ambulance helpline, it will reach here soon,” the man at the helpdesk replied to Parvez.
According to KGMU Trauma Centre spokesperson Premraj Singh, the Trauma Centre has about 460 beds, with 10 operating theatres, and around 75 ventilators.
He said, “A big reason we tend to have a shortage of beds is because we get referrals not only for cases that need super specialty care, but also of patients from private hospitals who get financially exhausted.”
Head of the department of trauma surgery and trauma centre incharge Dr Sandeep Tiwari said, “With the Trauma Centre’s capacity at 460 beds, nearly 130 are getting admitted every day. The ward has at least 500 patients admitted at any given time, and has to refer at least 50 patients to other hospitals every day.”
12 AM-3 AM
HT reporters saw at least five ambulances coming into the Trauma Centre emergency area every 30 minutes, within three hours. Moreover, attendants of patients admitted or being treated in the hospital had to seek refuge opposite the hospital gates. Some of them were waiting for days, and others hours, to get conclusive information about their patients.
Over 300 attendants were huddled in winter clothes and blankets. This was a clear indication of the sheer volume of patients being treated at the Trauma Centre. The situation arose even as a number of ambulances were on standby on the KGMU campus.
2 AM: AMBULANCE ARRIVES
Over 30 minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took Parvez’s father Hazrat Deen to Balrampur Hospital. There, he was informed about the unavailability of beds and sent on the same ambulance ride to Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) in Gomti Nagar, about 10 km from Balrampur Hospital.
2:30 AM: AMBULANCE LEAVES FOR RML
The ambulance left for RMLIMS around 2.30am and reached there around 3am. They were again refused due to lack of a bed. “We were sent back to KGMU and this back and forth went on all night until, due to frustration, we returned to Sultanpur,” said Parvez.
3.30 AM: BACK TO KGMU AGAIN
According to Parvez, they returned to KGMU around 3.30am.
“After realising that we are entangled in a vicious circle, we left for Sultanpur around 4 am,” Parvez said.
‘AMBULANCE NOT ON TIME, FORCED TO ADMIT PATIENT IN PRIVATE HOSP’
Parvez is not only the one to bear the brunt of a lack of beds at government hospitals. There are hundreds who are left with no option but to return home or take admission in private hospitals.
Anuj Kumar, a Sitapur resident, had a tough time getting treatment for his friend Manjeet Kumar who met with a major road accident in Bhutariya, Sitapur. While waiting at KGMU with his injured friend, he said on the phone, “First, the ambulance took around 90 minutes to reach the accident spot. We went to a community (health) centre in Biswan where, after the initial treatment, they told us to go to Sitapur city. After reaching there, we were referred to KGMU. When we reached here after over an hour’s drive, we were told to get registration done. Until then, my patient was not given any treatment. Even after getting registration, we were told that there is no bed. Given the seriousness of my patient, I took him to a private hospital on IIM Road and got him admitted there.”
DOCTORS ON DUTY, STAFF AT FULL STRENGTH
The spot check also found all the doctors and staff with extra alertness on duty. Even though the beds were unavailable at the hospital, the critical patients were seen getting treatment on the stretcher itself.
PAST IMPERFECT: DEATH AT LARI
This is after the death of 60-year-old Abrar Khan at Lari Cardiology Centre in the early hours of November 26. He lost his life while shuttling between Lari’s emergency ward and Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University, due to lack of a ventilator. The hospital had said that they had referred the patient to other government hospitals, but the patient and his attendants refused.
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