A hospital that needs treatment

HYDERABAD: Years of neglect and institutional apathy aside, the dilapidated structure of Osmania General Hospital (OGH) continues to attend to hundreds of patients from underprivileged and disadvantaged backgrounds. And it is for this exact reason that the hospital requires immediate attention.
While over 350 biomedical equipment at the hospital require urgent repair, the nurses complain that there is not enough staff to attend to all patients. A shortage of beds have ensured that many of the patients receive their treatments, literally, on the floors of the hospital. To add to this, patches of the ceiling keeps peeling and falling off every now and then.

In the everyday bustle of the heritage building, there are a plethora of issues that are hard to miss even in plain sight. But despite repeated pleas by both the doctors and the conservationists, the State government has taken up no restoration works at the hospital.

When Express visited the hospital, a nurse was seen reprimanding a patient’s family for crowding a ward that was already in a dilapidated condition. Constructed over a century ago, the general ward with its picturesque and ventilated arches provides a perfect view of overflowing plastic dustbins filled with used cotton swabs and other medical waste. If one attempts a walk through the interiors, a stench close to unbearable starts to emanate from almost every other corner. 

Take for instance, the second floor of the building. This floor is kept out of bounds for the patients, with only an operation theatre being functional here. Express observed that it was here on the second floor that the maximum damage has taken place. The third floor too is not in use. This is the case, even after multiple reports of the ceiling’s crust falling down, especially during monsoon. Water seepage has destroyed parts of the building and the entire floor is a litter box for stray cats and dogs. 

Dr Nagendar, superintendent of the hospital, claims that the hospital is well-equipped with updated equipment and medical procedures. “The primary concern right now is that the lime and mortar from the ceiling keep cracking and falling off occasionally. But we are constantly monitoring this issue and ensuring that the patients are not harmed.” But with the CCTV cameras being placed only in the emergency ward o the new building, one wonders how the issue is being ‘monitored’. 

Dr Vijayendra, the president of Telangana Junior Doctor’s Association, has a differing opinion from the superintendent. He claims that the laparoscopy equipment in the general surgery ward has been defunct for over a year and that the C-Arm had required repair for over two years now. “The biomedical equipment are supposed to be repaired by Faber-Sindoori, the company with which OGH has a contract. Though the hospital is being billed regularly, no repair works have been done. Due to these reasons, even the doctors are unable to provide quality service.”

Shakuntala, a senior nurse who has been working in the hospital for 34 years, says that the situation has only gotten worse. “A major issue is that we do not have enough attendants or ward boys to help us with basic procedures. We are overworked.” Her claim is immediately proved right, as a middle-aged man with a fractured arm is seen pulling the stretcher of a family member towards the operation theatre (OT). “We could not find anyone to help us, so I have to take my family member from one department to another,” he says, while brushing past people.

Hospital well-equipped, says superintendent
Dr Nagendar, superintendent of the hospital, claims that the hospital is well-equipped with updated equipment and medical procedures. “The primary concern right now is that the lime and mortar from the ceiling keep cracking and falling off occasionally. But we are monitoring this issue and ensuring that patients are not harmed”