Bangalore: Where do poor trauma patients in the city go for treatment? The only trauma care centre in the Government sector in the State is Sanjay Gandhi Accident Hospital and Research Institute. This hospital has failed to address the needs of accident trauma patients. Indeed, it gets only two to three emergency cases in a day and its affairs are in a sorry state.

According to the 2005 report of the Karnataka High Court Committee Constituted for the Improvement of 16 Government/Autonomous Hospitals of Bangalore, the bed occupancy rate here was just 30 to 35 per cent and there were 53 vacant posts of doctors. There was a shortage of 39 paramedical staff. Not much has changed in the hospital since then.

C-Arm, the device used in vascular diagnosis and therapeutic interventions, which was purchased in 1995 has not been functional for over 10 years. The hospital acquired a new C-Arm just four months ago. They are yet to get a CT scan, essential for diagnosing head injury patients. V. Govindaraju, Director of the Institute, told The Hindu that there were adequate number of doctors but the hospital did not have the expertise to deal with emergencies and patients with severe multiple injuries However, sources in the hospital said emergency patients are often sent back because doctors are not available round-the-clock. Only minor injuries are attended to.

This is in sharp contrast to the situation at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) just next door, where the casualty and emergen-cy wards are always crowded irrespective of the time of day.

Patients with multiple injuries including limb fractures, chest and head injuries are brought to the NIMHANS emergency outpatient, despite the fact that it is not a trauma care centre.

According to Nagaraj, Director and Vice-Chancellor of NIMHANS, the casualty and emergency outpatient department receives at least 70 to 80 trauma patients a day.

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