Hyderabad: Severe bed crunch ails Osmania general hospital

Hyderabad: Though the infrastructure in government hospitals across the State has been ramped up and new beds were added in various hospitals due to Covid cases, the number of beds in Osmania General Hospital has been decreased. Consequently, people are facing hardship to get the bed on time and are forced to stay on stretchers and wheelchairs for 12 to 14 hours hours. The hospital management is helpless and not able to arrange the beds for patients as the current bed strength is 830 while there were 1,100 beds earlier.

Lack of space in newly extended blocks is the major reason for decline in the number of beds in the hospital. The old building was vacated after rainwater and sewage entered the hospital premises a year ago. The bed shortage forced people to move to private hospitals for emergency treatment. Patients are also complaining that two patients are forced to share one bed due to shortage. It is quite risky and unsafe to share beds during pandemics and it is a violation of Covid norms.

The in and outpatient footfalls have been increased at OGH during the pandemic as the Gandhi Hospital was declared as Covid exclusive hospitals. Non-Covid services have been suspended for few months. In view of this, Osmania was the only hope to the poor for all kinds of treatment. About 150 to 170 patients are being admitted to the hospital daily.

Speaking to Hans India an attendant of the patient at OGH, Mohammed Ishaq Uddin said that "I have admitted my father five days ago. He was taken into emergency ward but it was shocking to see that it took more then two hours to consult the doctor as more than half a dozen patients were in the queue at the emergency ward. The situation is terrible after being relieved from emergency. It took 14 hours to get the bed. My father was laid on the stretcher for that long hours''.

Further, he added that it is pathetic to see that two patients were sharing one bed due to a shortage of beds and the old patients were being shifted on a stretcher from bed to make a way for new patients. It is a high risk for the patients but they are forced to do that.

According to Superintendent OGH Dr Nagendar "it is an unusual situation as the number of patients has been doubled due to Covid. OGH is the only hospital that serving non-Covid patients as Gandhi has suspended non-Covid services for the last few months. It is natural to face the shortage. We have managed the things successfully and after non-Covid services have been started at Gandhi the pressure will reduce now and everything will settle down soon."