Crush of patients adds to unchanging space crunch

Jaipur: When 28-year-old Sunil Sahoo was informed by a doctor at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Hospital that his wife was pregnant, there was a seemingly unending smile on his face. He was asked to come to the hospital the next day to get a sonography done. Sahoo came with his wife the next day, but there was no chance of getting a sonography done.“The sonography section has a huge crowd of patients. I am in the waiting list for two days, and I have been asked to come back tomorrow,” said Sahu, a resident of Ramgarh Road, with no smile on his face.The daily footfall of patients at this government-run hospital, popularly known as Gangori hospital, keeps rising. In June, the hospital conducted 3,551 sonography tests, averaging 118 daily.The hospital seems to be favourite for pregnant women seeking deliveries and those in need for gynaecological treatment. In June, 275 babies born by normal delivery and 300 by caesarean surgery at Gangori hospital, averaging 19 babies born daily.Gangori hospital has three units of gynaecology, which is half of what the state’s biggest women-specialty Zanana Hospital in Jaipur has. But the space at Gangori hospital is not even a tenth of Zanana Hospital.Dr Leeneshwar Harshvardhan, medical superintendent of the hospital, said efforts have been made to manage the crowd of patients. “We have formed a WhatsApp group for patients of each of the three gynaecology units to inform them of their appointments. THere are three slots: 8am to 10 am, 10 am to 12 noon, and 12 noon to 2 pm for crowd management,” he said.