While the city celebrated the country’s independence, the sick had a harrowing time as almost all government hospitals closed their Out-Patient Departments (OPD) at 1 p.m. Several patients were seen hunting for doctors in desperation at some of the hospitals. Manjula, 34, an expectant mother from K.R. Puram, who had come to see a doctor at the government- run Vani Vilas Hospital at around 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, said she had no idea it was a half-day for the OPD.
“We thought it would be open till 4 p.m. like every other day and so started late. Only when we got here did we realise it was closed. After running around for 45 minutes we were finally directed to the emergency department for the check-up,” said Manjula’s sister, Aarati, who had accompanied her to the hospital.
The scene was no different at private hospitals where most specialists took the day off on Wednesday. Kiran from RT Nagar could not find a rheumatologist at Manipal Hospital, Baptist Hospital or St Martha’s Hospital. Deputy director, Baptist Hospital, Dr Naveen Thomas, admitted that except for doctors attending to emergency and casualty cases most others had taken the day off.