Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Patients suffer at GGH

PHOTO: CH.VIJAYA BHASKAR

Caught unawares: A critically ill woman brought from Nandigama being taken to operation theatre in Vijayawada Government General Hospital on Monday. —

VIJAYAWADA: The pain of utter neglect of a critically ill member of their family was perhaps more than the illness of Saraswathi for her kin.

A resident of Nandigama, Saraswathi was brought to the Government General Hospital on Monday in a critical condition. The woman in her fourth month of pregnancy suffered bleeding, a serious gynaecological problem that needs immediate attention.

But the two men accompanying the patient were at a loss when they did not find anyone for help. Realising the futility of a wait in vain, they placed the groaning woman on a stretcher and rushed to a hospital.

This was the scenario at the GGH on Monday despite the tragic death of six newborn babies the previous night, allegedly due to negligence.

Patients continued to suffer while junior doctors, who have been off duty demanding a steep hike in stipend, stuck to their guns.

Despite the widespread flak drawn by the junior doctors for their prolonged strike, which is seen as one of the causes for deterioration of the situation in the hospital, the house surgeons remained unperturbed. “We have been on strike for past one week.

There is no logic in connecting the tragedy to our strike.

The situation in the GGH has always been like this -- poor infrastructure facilities and shortage of staff. In fact, we have been insisting for improvement of infrastructure facilities and adequate staff,” said S. Ratnakar, general secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJUDA) in Siddhartha Medical College.

Asserting the association’s stand on the issue, Mr. Ratnakar said a hike in stipend was long overdue and since several promises had been made in the past on this count, the JUDA members were in no mood to relent until the special committee’s recommendations were implemented. “But we have been attending to emergency cases,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, a large posse of police cordoned off the GGH to avoid any possible trouble in view of the agitation staged by leaders of the Opposition parties on the hospital premises.

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