Mysore:  “K.R. Hospital needs urgent treatment,” “K.R. Hospital in coma”… are old headlines of newspapers — as old as the Hospital itself. But despite the media highlighting the pathetic condition of the Hospital, nothing has changed so far when it comes to patient treatment, facilities and infrastructure. Except for a handful of Departments that provide ultra-modern treatment to poor patients, inefficiency lurks from most of the Departments.

At the century-old K.R. Hospital, popularly called ‘Doddaspathre’ by the rural folk, one can find blatant neglect despite the Hospital being a lifeline for many patients from Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and Kodagu.

Though Centre and State Governments have launched ambitious health schemes like ‘Ayushman Bharat’ and ‘Arogya Karnataka’, such schemes are yet to be fully implemented at this Hospital. Poor patients who come with the hope of getting free treatment by producing their Ration Card, Aadhaar Card and BPL Card are the worst affected as there is no one to provide information about where to avail the benefits of the scheme.

Free treatment is just a notion

If a particular disease under the health scheme cannot be treated at a Government Hospital, patients have an option of going to a private hospital where they can get free treatment. But there is no one to explain this option at K.R. Hospital and the patients are made to run from pillar to post. Also to make matters worse, user fee is charged on all treatments that are supposed to be given free, as promised by the Government.

There is an absolute lack of facilities like ventilators, life-saving drugs, dialysis treatment and various specialised treatments that the poor cannot afford at private hospitals. Shockingly, there are no stocks of medicines at the Hospital and the patients are asked to buy medicines from private medical stores. If a doctor prescribes 10 tablets, the patients buy only two as they cannot afford the medicines.

Severe shortage of essentials

There is a severe shortage of spirit to clean wounds and some sections of the Hospital don’t even have the basic thermometer and gloves to be used by doctors and the medical staff. This apart, there is a severe shortage of nurses and even in the emergency wards where they are needed the most, there is a shortage of 50 percent nurses.

The posts of nurses who have retired from service have not been filled as yet despite many requisitions. Earlier, nursing students from colleges used to be hired on temporary basis for two years to treat patients and a stipend would be given to them. Now this too has stopped and between 4 pm and 8 pm, not a single nurse can be found in the wards except for a handful of them in some of the Departments.

The casualty ward is the worst affected if an emergency patient is wheeled in as there are no nurses at least to keep the patient alive till the doctors come or to clean the wounds of any accident victim.

Money does the talk here

Patients regularly complain that they need to pay money for any kind of service apart from the user fee charged at the Hospital. Even if a patient has to be shifted from the ICU to the wards, money is demanded. A body part needs to be shaved before the doctor operates that portion. Patients have to pay Rs. 150 to Rs. 200 for shaving. Relatives and attendants of patients have to pay Rs. 200 for the patients to be wheeled into the operation theatre and again Rs. 200 for the patient to be shifted back to the wards.

As per rules, food has to be supplied individually to the wards and patients have to be fed. But food is just wheeled into the corridors and the person waits for the patients to come and have food. Due to this many patients miss out on food forcing them to eat from outside hotels and canteens. A distressing fact here is that bread, rice and milk meant for patients are shipped outside to be sold in the market.

Unscientific waste disposal

Waste disposal too is a gargantuan problem at this Hospital with garbage thrown all over. Apart from discarded cement and stone slabs, garbage bags with collected waste are disposed of within the Hospital premises. One careless step, a syringe or a glass bottle piece may pierce into your leg.

Many corners of this huge building are used to dump waste including old beds, clothes of patients, pillows and bed sheets. Due to rain, these beds decay and cause a lot of smell in the vicinity. Though the Hospital authorities have cleaned some of the places, there is more such stuff to be cleaned.

Breeding ground for mosquitoes

Old water tanks have been thrown outside near the laboratory and the existing water tanks above the Hospital constantly overflows with water collected all over the concrete roof. The motor that supplies water to these overhead tanks are never switched off and it usually takes hours for the staff to realise that water is being wasted. These roofs have turned into breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Apart from patients, nurses and doctors, there is an army of street dogs that take shelter under beds, chairs, tables and stone slabs inside the Hospital. Whenever shooed away, they growl at patients. In a way it is a stray dog paradise at a place where importance should have been given to patients and doctors.