Devoid of basics, patients bear brunt at Kasturba Gandhi Hospital

Chennai: Raji L, 63, was seen filling a five-litre water can at a tea shop to take to her pregnant daughter, who was waiting for a check-up at Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children at Triplicane. “Inside the block feels, it feels like a furnace — hot and with no proper drinking water facility,” she said. The hospital records an average monthly footfall of 14,000 outpatients and 11,000 inpatients, but is found lacking in amenities and upkeep.

Most floors have inadequate seating, while some have none at all. In March, a multi-storey building was inaugurated by the then deputy chief minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin. While the ground floor of the new building is in use, the upper two floors remain vacant. Though the floor and toilets are filthy, patients and attenders are made to remove their footwear and walk barefoot.

“The hospital has the best doctors, which is why we have come here for my wife’s second pregnancy. But the facilities need to be improved,” said Santhosh M, a mobile shop worker. “On one occasion, after a check-up with our seven-year-old daughter, an aggressive stray dog tried to attack us within the campus. A watchman came to our rescue,” he added.

An official said drinking water facilities and more seating would be provided once construction is complete. “Since the gates remain open, stray dogs enter the campus. Even after approaching the civic body, there has been no satisfactory response,” the official said. Patients have also complained that the vicinity is littered with broken glass bottles, discarded syringes, pipes, plywood pieces and charred waste.

When contacted, a senior health official said that shifting work to the new building is not yet complete. The entire building will come into use within a month. He said that the construction debris remains on the campus because work is still underway on two blocks, one medical and one administrative.