Hospital becomes a fortress

KOLKATA: Five-year-old Raja Sardar, who had been admitted to the B C Roy Memorial Hospital for Children for treatment of brain tuberculosis, was released 20 days later on Wednesday. Six others were not so fortunate.
The tragedy continued as more children died late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday. The hospital resembled a fortress with police everywhere and mediapersons not being allowed in to meet superintendent Dr A.Mondal.
The outpatient department treated less than 700 patients, about half its usual number. Only about 20 patients were admitted. “The number of patients coming in has gone down,� said a doctor, unable to cite any reason behind the drop.
Parents waiting outside with their children are at the mercy of the weather and mosquitoes. Seven-year-old Ahmed from Hasnabad is a thalassaemia patient and was discharged on Tuesday. He and his parents are camping outside the hospital because they have to take blood tests at the School of Tropical Medicine and cannot go back home.
Elsewhere in the city, more children died in government hospitals. At the prestigious Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, there were five deaths, which superintendent Dr S.K. Rudra dismissed as “usual�. A child death at the Baranagar hospital resulted in angry demonstrations.
In the paediatric ward of NRS, cats roamed free. A ginger tabby hovered next to a child on oxygen with a tube draining fluids out of his chest. The mother could do little except try and wave the animal away.
There are on an average three children per bed, irrespective of their ailments. “We cannot turn away patients and there are only 55 beds. At present we have 82 patients. In winter, this figure climbs to over 120,� Dr Rudra said. The surgical ward has 60 beds and 84 patients.
According to Dr Rudra, most patients are critical by the time they are brought in. Chances of infection are high as children lie close to one another. Mothers too share the same bed. “These people are not aware of hygiene and their clothes are seldom clean. How can infection be prevented?� Dr Rudra asked.
Mothers allege that doctors do not attend to their children promptly. “If we ask a doctor for help, he says we should talk to the doctor who admitted us. So we have to wait for him and sometimes, the child gets really sick,� one of them said.
The nurses and other attending staff too misbehave and hardly come to their aid, they added.