Bandh takes toll on OP visits to govt hospitals in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The statewide bandh on Saturday resulted in a drop off out-patient (OP) registrations by 20 to 30 per cent in major State hospitals in twin cities on Saturday. However, there was no disruption of work as treatments in OP, in-patient and emergency wards continued as usual on Saturday.

More than the bandh, the impact was due to lack of public transportation as RTC buses did not ply on various routes like seen during normal days.

People visiting OGH (Osmania General Hospital), Gandhi, Niloufer and NIMS hospitals depend on RTC buses and understandably as buses were very few some of them might have altered their hospital visits, hospital authorities felt.

In Gandhi Hospital, the number of new OP registrations was around 950 as against 1,500 seen on normal days. Superintendent (in-charge) Narasimha Rao Netha informed that they have arranged bus facilities in a few routes for staff (nurses, technical, ward boys etc.,) pick up so that they reach the hospital on time and services are on run smoothly. And this plan worked well as the staff made use of the facility as RTC buses were mostly off roads, he said.

The number of OP registrations in OGH was also 900 as against the usual figure of 1,300 to 1,500 on a weekend. In NIMS, nearly 1,400 out-patients took doctor consultations as against 1,800 on normal days.

As patient number was less, doctors finished their OP consultations well in advance before the scheduled 1 pm time in some hospitals. In corporate hospitals, the bandh impact was barely seen. Usually OP number on Saturday is less compared to weekdays and the Saturday figure was more or less the same in many hospitals.

The business was as usual as far as in-patients and emergency treatments were concerned. However, the class IV staff including Aayas had to shell out Rs 50 to 100 on auto and taxi fare to reach hospital on time as there were not enough buses on roads.