An acute staff shortage has brought services to a standstill at Ghatkopar's Rajawadi hospital; the earlier batch of doctors have been transferred, but no new batch has arrived
An acute staff shortage has brought services to a standstill at Ghatkopar's Rajawadi hospital; the earlier batch of doctors have been transferred, but no new batch has arrived
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A serpentine queue stretched itself out at Ghatkopar's Rajawadi hospital yesterday, extending beyond the confines of the hospital gates to the road outside.
This meandering queue comprised flustered, irate patients, waiting for treatment at the hospital's out patient department (OPD).
The doctor-patient ratio here is an appalling 1,000: 1, and patients at the wards claim that the doctors can never be found.
It appears that a grinding staff crisis has brought things to a standstill at this hospital.
Shopkeeper Ramvilas Yadav (37), who has been suffering from fever, had to give work a miss, as he awaited treatment.
He said, "Though I arrived at the OPD at 9 am, I was attended to only at 1 pm. I cannot make any sales today."
The ward boy said, "We have to follow certain rules. The crowd is growing increasingly impatient, and scuffles have broken out among some of them."
Sukhdev Singh (72) said, "I had to wait for four hours to spend two minutes in the doctor's cabin."
Ramesh Kotre (46) complained, "The OPD, which receives the maximum number of patients is manned by only one doctor."
The situation was equally dismal within the wards, where patients claim ward boys and nurses have been attending to them, while the doctors remain elusive.
The special ward that had opened its doors to patients suffering from monsoon ailments had shut its doors firmly three weeks ago, in the absence of any doctors to man it.
Indrajeet Dubhe, who was admitted to the hospital a week back, said, "The doctors rarely come for check ups, and complain about their hectic schedule."
A doctor working at the hospital said, "Doctors are sent to our hospital on a rotational basis. The batch of doctors who had been posted here was transferred to another hospital earlier this month.
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At present, the there are only 12 doctors working here in shifts. It is impossible for them to attend to the 4,000-odd patients who have come here for treatment."
The Other Side
Dr Vijaya Bhatt, medical superintendent of Rajawadi Hospital, said, "There is currently a case pending in court regarding the circulation of bonded doctors in the city's government hospitals. We hope that the situation will be resolved at the earliest."
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