DC looks into patients’ grievances at KIMS, ensures adequate facilities

Hubballi: Following a report published in The Times of India highlighting the lack of key facilities in the Covid ward at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Hubballi, Dharwad deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil ensured that the patients’ basic needs were looked after. Patients TOI had spoken to had complained of poor plumbing in the bathrooms, in addition to a shortage of mugs and buckets and non-availability of hot water. Patil acted on the report, and all bathrooms and toilets were well stocked with buckets and mugs.
“I asked for a report from the KIMS chief administrative officer about the lack of facilities at the hospital. I was subsequently informed that, though there were sufficient number of buckets and mugs, they had been misplaced. Since staff deployed in the Covid ward do not move much, they were unable to keep their eyes on the misplaced buckets and ensure they were restored to the bathrooms and lavatories. But KIMS procured additional buckets and mugs nevertheless and all bathrooms have them now. We request the citizens to boost the morale of KIMS staff during this critical time. It has come to our notice that asymptomatic patients, clicking photographs of small things gone wrong, are posting them on social media, but we will not curb internet facility,” Patil told TOI.
Meanwhile, at the behest of DC Patil, assistant director of food quality Manjunath Revankar paid a visit to the production unit of Mamma’s Lunchbox at Gopanakoppa, to assess the conditions in which meals being provided to Covid hospitals and care centres were prepared.
Patients in the Covid ward at KIMS expressed their gratitude for the corrective measures taken following the TOI report. They said that bathrooms now had new taps, and also pointed to the improvement in the quality of food being provided.