The relatives of patients admitted at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) are riled over the hospital management’s practice of dumping medical waste in front of the Chennai Corporation-run shelter. The shelter is meant for the attenders to stay free of cost.
Bio-medical waste dumped opposite the Corporation-run shelter
Chennai:
When DT Next visited the spot, on Saturday afternoon, there was a heap of medical waste dumped near the entrance. There was no garbage bin found nearby, and the waste was found they were strewn around. An attender said that the garbage has blood-stained cotton, used gloves and others. “We fear to go near the dumping spot.”
Meanwhile, the hospital management claimed that removing garbage is the duty of the Greater Chennai Corporation. “The Corporation should clear the garbage bin thrice a day. But they are removing only twice,” Dr R Jayanthi, Dean of RGGGH said.
Apart from the sanitation issue, the civic body source alleged that the hospital management hesitates to admit sick homeless persons and refuses to treat them properly. “At times, the hospital resort to discharging the sick homeless persons without curing their ailment. Due to this, they are forced to stay at the shelters for homeless persons without proper medical care,” the source alleged.
The source added that the same issue persists in other government hospitals where the civic body runs shelters for attenders. However, Dr Jayanthi refuted the allegation and said that the hospital treats the homeless patients well. “Once they are cured, we will inform the police if they are willing to return to their homes.
However, patients who do not want to go to their homes will be handed over to the NGOs maintaining shelters for homeless,” she clarified. Of the 50 shelters for homeless persons in the city run by the civic body, as many as 13 shelters function in government hospitals.
A source attached to the night shelter wing of the civic body said that the hospital management is dumping the waste despite repeated requests. “Many attenders are using the facility and the civic body is operating the shelter to help the relatives of poor patients. But medical waste dumped near the entrance pose grave sanitation threat and health hazard,” the source added.
When DT Next visited the spot, on Saturday afternoon, there was a heap of medical waste dumped near the entrance. There was no garbage bin found nearby, and the waste was found they were strewn around. An attender said that the garbage has blood-stained cotton, used gloves and others. “We fear to go near the dumping spot.”
Meanwhile, the hospital management claimed that removing garbage is the duty of the Greater Chennai Corporation. “The Corporation should clear the garbage bin thrice a day. But they are removing only twice,” Dr R Jayanthi, Dean of RGGGH said.
Apart from the sanitation issue, the civic body source alleged that the hospital management hesitates to admit sick homeless persons and refuses to treat them properly. “At times, the hospital resort to discharging the sick homeless persons without curing their ailment. Due to this, they are forced to stay at the shelters for homeless persons without proper medical care,” the source alleged.
The source added that the same issue persists in other government hospitals where the civic body runs shelters for attenders. However, Dr Jayanthi refuted the allegation and said that the hospital treats the homeless patients well. “Once they are cured, we will inform the police if they are willing to return to their homes.
However, patients who do not want to go to their homes will be handed over to the NGOs maintaining shelters for homeless,” she clarified. Of the 50 shelters for homeless persons in the city run by the civic body, as many as 13 shelters function in government hospitals.