The Hindu : Institute of Child Health flooded with patients

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 06, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Institute of Child Health flooded with patients

By R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, FEB. 3. The queue of people waiting to see doctors is long at the Institute of Child Health, Egmore.

The front yard of the institute on Halls Road is the waiting room for a large number of people who come from other districts, sometimes from other States, seeking specialists' advice.

"We have patients from as far as Orissa," says P. Rama Devi, former head. Patients come from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka too. Sometimes the entire family accompanies the child. They come with the hope that the treatment will last a day or two. When the stay is extended, they are often short of money and have no place to go.

The outpatient ward receives every day about 2,500 patients, who are accompanied by at least one attendant. The hospital can accommodate about 600 inpatients. "At times we have to maintain a delicate balance. We have a huge crowd and we cannot be rude to mothers," says Dr. Rama Devi.

A few social welfare organisations assist the hospital staff. Women from the State branch of the Satya Sai Seva Organisation have been regulating the outpatient department since 1997. Other well-known organisations such as the Lions Club and the Rotary Club have taken up maintenance of a few wards. The Southern Railway Mazdoor Union helps the poor families, but that is insufficient.

There is need for assistance from non-government organisations, says a senior paediatrician. A way of decongesting the hospital is to strengthen the peripheral institutions. The institute is the only one of its kind offering such a wide variety of services, says S. Jayam, another former head.

The paediatric ward in the Stanley General Hospital is underutilised, say some senior doctors. Inside the city, a basic paediatric ward can be added to the Kasturba, the Kilpauk and the Royapettah General Hospitals. Then children would be brought only for specialised treatment and emergency care.

Doctors feel there is also need for support services, as there is no place for the institute to expand. "Fifty years ago, a survey of the paediatric ward in the Government General Hospital showed that most people came from the Egmore area. So the area was chosen for the hospital. It was built behind the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to benefit both the mother and the child," says Dr. Jayam.

Some doctors suggest that housekeeping and infrastructure maintenance be handed over to professionals. At present, in government hospitals the responsibility of housekeeping and maintaining the building rests with the heads of departments and the institution.

One senior doctor says, "There is need to improve sanitary facility. Outsourcing of work to agencies has been taken up in some departments. Laboratory services and use of other facilities can be regulated. This will also cut down the waiting time."

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