Over 3,000 persons seeking medical care throng various counters
Mysore/Mysuru: Even as the Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) has drawn up plans to bring all outpatient department (OPD) services under one roof by establishing a new facility to decongest K.R. Hospital, hundreds of patients stand in separate queues to avail treatments daily.
Their wait extends to more than one hour during OPD hours as there is tremendous pressure on the hospital staff to cater to the needs of over 1,500 to 1,800 patients every day. The situation is worse on all Mondays as there is no OPD on Sundays.
Notably, the rush at K.R. Hospital is perpetual despite Mysuru having many other Government hospitals like the Cheluvamba Hospital, District Hospital, Trauma Care, PKTB Sanatorium, Princess Krishnajammanni Super Speciality Hospital, Seth Mohandas Tulsidas Maternity Hospital and ESI Hospital.
This morning, there were over 3,000 patients waiting in front of OPD counters. The Hospital has OPD service only from Monday to Friday and on Sunday, only the Department of Medicine has OPD with just one doctor. Rest of the working days, OPDs are open from 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm.
Patients run around
As there is no single OPD block, patients are forced to move from one end to another end of the K.R. Hospital — called Doddaspathre — and some of the OPD counters can’t even give OPD slips to patients due to the heavy rush. Notably, the rush in the Hospital has crossed the pre-COVID time as now there are no restrictions on patient screening.
Among the OPD counters, the demand is high for medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, casualty, minor OT, Ayushman Card counter and ophthalmology. This apart, there are counters for BPL cardholders to avail of slips that mention free treatment on them. Each counter has to handle a minimum of 250 to 300 patients and by the time the patients get their OPD slips, it is noon.
At present, the OPD rush is handled by the IPD-OPD block in Kantharaja Ward, surgical block or the stone building and there are separate counters for physiotherapy, ophthalmology and dermatology. Due to the huge crowd at the OPDs, on an average 400 to 500 admissions are made daily in the Hospital that has 1,050 beds.
Pressure high on staff
The pressure on beds is extremely high and patients have to wait for discharges to get admitted. Many opt for floor beds unable to wait for the beds as they desperately need medical attention. In many cases, all types of critical surgeries are postponed and patients are asked to come at a later date and even there is a shortage of critical equipment like ventilators.
In addition, the workload of doctors, nurses and Group D workers has increased manifold and there is a severe shortage of nurses and Group D mployees too. The parking lot of the K.R. Hospital is a mess where patients and their attendants park their vehicles wherever they are able to park. In the absence of parking attendants and security guards early in the morning and night, many outsiders attending offices and businesses too park their vehicles for the whole day and take them out after 7 pm.
This post was published on July 4, 2022 6:42 pm