NIMS authorities seem to be in an undue hurry to project that the two new blocks — the trauma emergency hospital and the specialty hospital at Banjara Hills — have been put to use. So barely three days after the Chief Minister and the health minister inaugurated them, the entire 37-bed emergency medicine department was shifted to the new trauma centre on Tuesday night.
But staff and doctors at NIMS maintained that the new blocks, built at a cost of over Rs 150 crore, are not yet equipped for the purpose. The inauguration, as well as the hurried way in which they were made functional, is thus being seen as an attempt to score political brownies. So what’s ailing the new units? A senior doctor, who did not wish to be named, elaborated: “The CT scan machine still remains in the old hospital, which means wasting crucial time while attending to trauma cases, as patients will have to be taken there for the scan and brought back for treatment. Moreover, there’s only one ambulance to ferry patients between the old hospital and the new block. Many patients are forced to walk, or are transported on trolleys, especially when it emerges that the patient doesn’t require admission in the emergency block.”
According to the doctor, facilities are zilch for attendants of patient, and instead of the usual ratio of one washroom for every five patients, there are just four toilets in the new block for everyone. “Besides, there is only one casualty medical officer for all 37 patients, who is, at times, forced to refer a case directly to the specialty wing instead of conducting preliminary screening and treatment,” the doctor said.
Mr P. Venkat, a relative accompanying a patient now shifted to the new block, said he had to wheel his ailing brother to the new trauma centre since no ambulance was available. “The new centre lacks even something as basic as bathroom for patients’ attendants, among other facilities missing,” he added.
Another shortcoming is the absence of medical stores on the premises.