Chennai: Lack of access ails new hospitals at King Institute campus in Guindy
The lack of reliable direct or last-mile connectivity is particularly arduous for elderly patients.
The health department opened two hospitals on King Institute campus at Guindy, but no proper transport facility is available to reach them.(Photo | Martin Louis)
Updated on:
12 Mar 2024, 9:27 am
CHENNAI: Lack of direct public transport services and last-mile connectivity to the newly-opened Kalaignar Centenary Super Specialty Hospital and National Centre for Ageing at the King Institute campus in Guindy is putting scores of patients, caregivers and hospital staff, including doctors, in hardship every day.
The lack of reliable direct or last-mile connectivity is particularly arduous for elderly patients. Health department officials said some particularly needy elderly patients, referred from the Geriatrics Department at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital to the National Centre for Ageing, are transported by hospital vehicle. Officials have also sought help from NGOs and volunteers to help transport patients.
For others, there are only two small buses (S 30 from Ashok Pillar to Saidapet market and S 35 from Ashok Nagar to Defence Colony) that directly stop outside the campus. D Varun, an attendant who had brought his grandmother to the orthopaedic out-patient unit at the super specialty hospital on Friday, pointed out that the services were limited and their timings not well known.
The alternative is to commute via the Guindy bus depot, 800m away.
"Many of us walk to the depot to board buses to different parts of the city," Varun said. After patients had complained about the gap in last-mile connectivity, a shuttle service was introduced between the campus and the Guindy bus depot. Although the service is meant to be available every five minutes, TNIE found the wait time could be as long as 20 minutes. Worse, the service is only available from 6.30am to 1.40 pm.
After that, visitors and staff must either shell out for an autorickshaw, cab or bike service or walk to the Guindy depot via the busy Alandur road, a source in the transport department said.
"We have to pay at least Rs 75 to the local autorickshaw drivers to get dropped at the depot. Many of the staff have collected the contact numbers of auto drivers nearby so we can call them once we finish work and they can pick us up," a doctor at the hospital said.
Asked about the limited transport facilities, Health Secretary, Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the matter would be taken up with the transport department to ensure convenience for the patients.
The 1,000-bed Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital was constructed at a cost of Rs 230 crore and inaugurated last year. The National Centre for Ageing was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually on February 25. The 200-bed facility with 40 intensive care units functions under the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
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