The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : It’s an ordeal at NIMS outpatient wing

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It’s an ordeal at NIMS outpatient wing

Patients from far and near end up spending an entire day only to meet the doctor

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sorry STATE OF AFFAIRS: The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences.

HYDERABAD: It was an unforgettable day on April 2 for 52-year-old G.K.V.S. Rao, who came all the way from A.S. Rao Nagar to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

He came at 8 a.m. for his turn in the outpatient department and by the time he emerged out, the clock was showing 6 p.m.

Shaken by the ordeal, Mr. Rao told this newspaper that the day was one of the worst in his life. “They misplaced my history sheet and asked me to start again. I met the doctor at 5 p.m., after waiting the whole day. He again asked me to undergo tests and that will take a week. With a wobbly knee and a failing kidney, this is tough ordeal for me,” he said.

Late arrival

Absenteeism and late arrival of doctors is common at the outpatient department. The outpatient wards resemble the chaos of railway reservation counters.

Typically, a patient in the outpatient department spends a day for doctor’s prescription, another day for diagnostics and the third day to get drugs from the medical store.

“We waited the whole day at the Nephrology Department and when we met the doctor at 4 p.m., we were told to go to the Urology Department for kidney stones. This is how the outpatient wing functions,” said Bhagyalakshmi, who came from Kakinada.

While outpatient services start at 8 a.m., seldom do doctors arrive on time. “This is happening for the third time to me. The doctor has not arrived and there is nobody to inquire. I have never seen the Director or Superintendent taking up rounds,” says T. Padma, resident of Chilkalguda, at the general medicine ward.

Even doctors are much harried lot. “The system is not streamlined. Patients from general category, CGHS, BHEL, RTC, CM’s Relief Fund, Arogyasri come to us. They also come from districts. Doctors are less in number. The diagnostic services take too long. Due to these reasons, we are at the receiving end of patient’s ire,” a doctor points out.

(Do you have any issues or problems on NIMS to share? Please email us your responses at hydlife@thehindu.co.in or post them to The City Editor, The Hindu, Begumpet, Hyderabad-16)

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