Lengthy waits, despair for scores of patients as cries go unheard

Lengthy waits, despair for scores of patients as cries go unheard

Shinjini.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:29.12.2021

For 14-year-old Aradhya Yadav, Tuesday proved a long day as she waited on a stretcher with a plastered leg for a doctor to attend to her at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. But even after almost six hours of waiting, no doctor was available to see her.

Reema Yadav, the teen’s mother, said that they reached the hospital from Badarpur around 6am but hadn’t seen a doctor till past noon. “Aradhya had surgery around a fortnight ago and we were scheduled to visit the hospital today for a follow-up. In 15 days, proper dressing hasn’t been done even once,” the mother said. “When I called our doctor from the hospital, I was told to come back later because nobody was available. He simply asked us to continue with whatever medicines Aradhya was having despite the course being over.”

From a hassled father running anxious about his son’s treatment to a pregnant woman waiting on the pavement, patients and their caregivers found themselves helpless with hundreds of doctors at government hospitals on strike.

At Dwarka, Markandey Sharma reached the hospital around 9am with his wife. They were asked to go elsewhere as the emergency ward was closed due to the strike.

“My wife has been having intestinal problems and is finding it difficult to move. But at the hospital, we were asked to go somewhere else. We will probably head to the ESI Hospital because she needs immediate attention,” the desperate construction worker said.

Many others similarly complained of travelling long distances only to be turned back at the hospitals. Kishandevi was there with her injured 24-yearold son. “We cannot afford treatment in private hospitals, but this is what we face in government hospitals. They asked us to come once the strike was over,” she grumbled. The Rohini resident at Safdarjung Hospital added, “A bus takes us two hours and using the motorcycle means spending for petrol. It is almost a 45km journey to and fro.”

Mohammad Irfan of Shiv Vihar was pushed on his wheelchair from one area to another, his child on his lap, at the hospital for two hours before his mother and wife saw the futility of hanging around. “I can’t walk after an operation went wrong two years ago,” said Irfan. “I need regular check-ups, but today we found no one available here.”

Attendants of in-hospital patients said there were announcements on Monday about the strike. Flustered Badarpur resident Mohit said, “My father is admitted here after a recent stroke. Last evening, doctors said that we could take the patient home because of the strike. How can we just take him home? He is in a poor condition. We don’t know what to do.”