A chunk of lime mortar from ceiling has reportedly crashed to ground in Osmania General Hospital's century old in-patient block.
Chairman of the OGH JAC Dr. R. Pandu Naik said that the incident occurred on Saturday in superintendent's Peshi, but no one was injured. In the photos sent by the senior doctor, iron rods which were embedded in the ceiling could be seen.
Superintendent of the hospital Dr. B. Nagender said that the incident must have occurred in unused portion of the building where no one goes. “We are taking utmost care to ensure that no such incident occurs in patient care area. Patient safety is our priority,” Dr. Nagender said.
Last year too at least three incidents where plaster of paris crashed to ground in the in-patient (IP) block was reported. The incidents drove fear down the spines of senior and junior doctors, nurses and staff working at the hospital. The IP block was constructed more than a century ago. Currently, some sections of the building are marked as “unsafe zone”.
The OGH JAC members have been demanding construction of new building for the hospital and staged protests too. "We have submitted a representation to Health Minister Eatala Rajender requesting a new building for the hospital to be constructed," Dr. Pandu Naik said.
In the month of February, the Health Minister instructed officials to vacate the heritage (IP) block in three months. Director of Medical Education Dr K Ramesh Reddy earlier said that they were instructed to take up work on a war footing.
Officials said that a pre-fabricated structure will be built on top of Quli Qutb Shah block, which is located in the same campus. It was learnt that funds for construction of the structure received administrative sanction. Besides, there are plans to take up repairs in unused non-heritage sections of the hospital such as a part of out-patient block.
There are a total of 500-beds in the IP Block, which are planned to be shifted to pre-fabricated structure and the unused non-heritage sections.