Pregnant women forced to share beds, many of them unable to move, many even lying on the floor on top of flimsy blankets… This is the scene at the Modern Government Maternity Hospital, Petlaburj in Hyderabad. According to patients, the sorry situation has been continuing for at least three months at the hospital, as the number of patients is much more than the capacity available.
Patients claim that they have to chalk out a schedule to decide who gets to sleep on bed on which day, or just adjust no matter how uncomfortable it is to sleep.
The situation at the antenatal ward in the third floor is the worst. The ward has approximately 25 beds. However, the present number of patients in the ward is double the number of beds.
The hospital with a capacity to treat 450 patients has seen a heavy influx of patients, reportedly more than a thousand in the last three months, according to hospital authorities. Pregnant women therefore are forced to either share a single bed, or sleep on the cold floor, said a hospital staff on condition of anonymity.
A patient, Nafeesa*, who gave delivery to a baby yesterday, says that she hasn’t slept yet since she was shifted after delivery from the emergency ward in the first floor. She says that she couldn’t risk the newborn’s condition by sleeping on floor as it is very cold due to the plummeting mercury levels. ”I fear that I may catch a cold and it could affect my baby,” she laments.
The shortage has led to other ‘adjustments’ too: The hospital is cutting down the number of days patients are allowed to stay in after giving birth, in order to accommodate the others. While earlier, mothers would be treated for at least three days before they are discharged, now they’re being discharged in two days, according to sources.
Srikanth*, resident of Balapur whose wife is being treated at the hospital says that the situation has been the same for the last three months. He says, “My wife is sharing the bed with another woman. It’s difficult, but she doesn’t have a choice. Either she must adjust or sleep on the floor if she wants comfort. We can’t afford private hospitals, so we have to bear with this,” he laments.
Speaking to TNM, Superintendent of the hospital Dr S Nagarani says they have no other go because of the influx of patients. “We are doing our best to accommodate the patients. But there has been an increase in the number of patients, beyond the hospital’s capacity. Under such conditions, we have to come up with such measures,” she said.
“We have already given proposals to increase the beds in the hospital,” she added.
A hospital official unwilling to be named said, “The hospital every year faces the same situation. This is not the first time that the hospital is faced with such a crisis. To avert this, either the government should construct another hospital or order for more beds and enhance the existing infrastructure,” they said.
*Names changed