District women’s hospital faces severe bed crunch

ALIGARH: Pregnant women visiting the district women’s hospital here are facing a tough time with most being asked to share beds in the sweltering heat and even having to shell out for basic facilities like wheelchairs. More than 100-150 women from nearby villages and city areas come for delivery and post-partum treatment to the Mohan Lal Gautam Rajkiya Mahila Chikitsalay, which currently just has 42 beds, forcing hospital authorities to ask patients to share beds. The medical facility actually has 90 beds but is currently functioning with just 42 as a ward is under construction and beds in there have been dismantled. Patients are unhappy about being asked to share beds and some claimed that they had to share a bed with two other patients. “You are late, in some cases three women were sharing one bed,” said the relative of a woman patient who was brought for delivery to the hospital. Prabha Devi and Nahid Bano, both nine months pregnant, were asked to share a bed. Both were ensuring that the other faces the least discomfort. Bano’s mother Shaheen said, “I am here to take care of her and make sure she doesn’t get hurt. It is very hot and the two are lying so close in this heat. Every second we are facing inconvenience. The doctor came and asked my daughter to shift to make place for another patient. We don’t have much choice.”When asked about the shortage of beds, doctor incharge Geetanjali Singh Pundhir said the arrangement was to ensure that serious patients are kept close to doctors’ cabin. “There are serious patients who are being treated for high blood pressure and other diseases. We just want to make sure that such patients are close to our cabin so that we don’t have to go far to see them in case of emergency. To manage this, we ask some patients to share beds.” Doctor Parveen Jahan said the shortage of beds was due to one of the wards being under construction and expressed helplessness about the situation. “What else can we do other than putting two of them on the same bed? There is no place, jahan jagah milegi wahan bitha denge (We will make them adjust with what we have).” Patients and their relatives also alleged that they were being asked to shell out money for basic facilities like wheelchairs. Husband of a woman being treated inside the ward said, “Apart from this inconvenience, we are also paying money at every step for using wheelchair or any other small service. As this is the only district women’s hospital nearby, we are helpless.”