All lines lie dead in Gandhi Hospital

HYDERABAD: It takes the admission staff of Gandhi Medical Hospital nearly 15 minutes to check if there is a bed available in the male medical ward; the support staff of the gynaecology department five minutes to find the anaesthetist; a surgeon 10 minutes to get a bottle of blood for his patient in an emergency.
This is the scenario at the hospital in Secunderabad since its intercom lines went dead a month ago.A transformer blast led to all intercom lines being short-circuited.
According to the head of a department at the hospital, the fault has not been rectified in spite of repeated pleas to the administration. “Lack of communication between departments is affecting the quality of service,� he said.
On Friday afternoon, calls could be connected only to the superintendent, the resident medical officer, casualty department, labour room, main operation theatre and medical stores.
Those inside could not call other departments within the hospital. For instance, calls could not be made or received from a ward to the blood bank, or to the medical stores or to any other department within the hospital.
When contacted, resident medical officer Dr K Anjaiah said efforts were being made to ensure that calls to essential departments like casualty were connected.
The telephone lines at the hospital are maintained by a private company, Link Well. According to its senior manager (customer support), Ashok Avasti, the maintenance contract with the hospital was not renewed after it expired in March.
However, Avasti said, his company has taken up the task of restoring the lines. “Though the damaged components have to be imported, the company has managed to procure them and the system will be functional by Saturday evening,� he said.
Replacing the entire system would cost the hospital about Rs 2 lakh, something which the authorities say they cannot afford.