As patients walk to washrooms, emergency unit waits for reopening

Kolkata: The two recent deaths at the RG Kar Medical College Hospital's emergency department have brought back the spotlight on the original emergency unit that was vandalised by a mob on the night of Aug 14, 2024, during the RG Kar movement. On Monday, emergency doctors met the college principal, urging for the unit to be shifted back to its original place.Initially sealed by the investigating agencies post the vandalism, the unit remains closed despite clearance from the agencies close to one-and-a-half years ago. The mob destruction of the well-equipped emergency unit forced the hospital administration to shift the unit to the cramped space on the ground floor that lacks not only equipment but also basic patient facilities like a washroom. "We have been pointing out the lack of infrastructure, lack of patient facility and space crunch in the ground-floor emergency of the Trauma Care building. We have learnt that the hospital has informed Swasthya Bhawan of the need to shift. But there is no green signal yet. Patient service issues will continue multiplying if the unit continues from the present space," said emergency medical officer Tapas Pramanick. Doctors said the patient washroom was a real issue in the present space. While there are two toilets, only one staff toilet is functioning. It is used by both male and female staffers while the other one remains closed for more than a year, as it was leaking into the radiotherapy unit in the basement, leading to the damage of a LINAC machine.The original emergency unit, with around 40 beds including — five HDU beds and life-saving devices like three ventilators, five bipap and monitor machines each, and ABG and defibrillator machines, was damaged by a mob. In addition, it had facilities like rooms for doctors, nurses, a blood collection centre, a CPR room, and at least three washrooms for patients. The one in the Trauma Care building has only six beds and lacks ventilators and bipap machines. Doctors have to depend on the six oxygen ports even for patients with acute breathing issues. Doctors said that the present facility was not ideal for emergency services. Officials in the medical college said they needed funds to rebuild the emergency unit from scratch, adding they were waiting for funds from the health department. On Monday, Trinamool MLA Atin Ghosh, also a member of the RG Kar Rogi Kalyan Samiti, met the college principal. "They are waiting for Swasthya Bhawan permission to reopen the original emergency unit. I will take this matter up with the highest authority so that funds are allocated for equipment. The current emergency unit is operating from a makeshift place that lacks infrastructure and basic patient facilities," said Ghosh.