Nagpur: Distressed relatives of the patients admitted at the Well Treat Hospital had more agony in store after Friday’s fire mishap — of shifting the patients to other hospitals.
“We spent the entire night running pillar to post to find beds for Covid-19 positive patients,” was the reaction of the relatives of the patients who had a miraculous escape in the incident.
The relatives of patients claimed that the administration provided no help. “They just asked us to take patients to particular hospitals without being aware of the status or the availability of beds there,” some relatives told TOI.
Most spent almost the entire Friday-Saturday intervening night searching for beds for the patients and made their own transport arrangements without any help from the administration.
“No ambulance facility was arranged for my uncle,” said Kunal Pathak, who rode with his Covid-19 positive uncle Hemraj Pathak (a resident of Ramtek) from Wadi to Datta Meghe Hospital in Hingna, on a motorcycle. “After failing to find a bed there, I went to Mayo hospital on Central Avenue. There too, my uncle was denied admission citing non-availability of beds,” he said.
“We even met district guardian minister Nitin Raut at Mayo hospital and urged him to arrange a bed. But in vain,” Pathak added.
“We made a last-ditch attempt at Hope Hospital near Automotive Square and as luck would have it, one bed with oxygen was arranged for him there,” said Pathak.
Hemraj Pathak had tested positive for coronavirus almost a week ago. Due to non-availability of beds in Ramtek, he had a hard time searching for a hospital for himself. On April 7, he somehow got admitted to Well Treat Hospital.
The plight is similar for almost all the patients. Relatives of Dulichand Patre, a resident of Mouda, after failing to find any vacant beds in city hospitals, shifted him to Amravati.
Relatives of at least 8 Covid patients failed to find beds in hospitals and took them home.
On Saturday, relatives of many patients also turned up at the Wadi hospital for refund of the money they deposited at the time of hospitalisation. “For every patient the hospital charged about Rs80,000 for the first four days of admission and care,” the relatives claimed.
TOI spotted at least 6 people enquiring with Wadi police about the refund of their deposit. The police, however, expressed helplessness and advised them to contact the doctors.
TOI also learnt that all the patients admitted in the hospital were Covid-19 positive and most of them hailed from rural areas.