Elderly made to suffer at Central Government Health Scheme dispensary

Begumpet: Patients visiting Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) dispensary are upset over unhygienic conditions, lack of basic sanitation and wheel-chair facilities.

To begin with, 90 per cent of patients who visit the dispensary are above 55 age and most of them suffer from different orthopedic illness and cannot climb the stairs. To reach the doctors for the check-ups, these elderly people are forced to use stairs as it is an only option.

"I am 62-years-old; my children are busy with their children and when we take a step ahead to visit dispensary by own, we see this stairs and lost hopes to come gain. It's very difficult to climb two floors in this elderly age and we have no choice other than doing it. It took us 40 minutes to reach the second floor from ground floor," said an old man with extreme pain in his eyes.

On the other hand, patients have to bear the brunt of lack of basic medical facilities and sanitation. Moreover, doctors in the hospital would not be available all the time. On enquiries, the attendant merely reports that,

"Doctor is on a leave." Harsh attendants won't even help the elderly patients and respond to them in a rude manner. Drinking water facility is also not in a count with the dispensary. The staff in the pharmacy also do not heed pleas of old patients who seek medicines for a week more, they said.