A slow & painful wait at Fever Hospital

Nallakunta: Spurt in Dengue and other seasonal ailments across the city is leading to long queues at hospitals. Nearly 2,000 outpatients are visiting Fever Hospital in Nallakunta division every day, and on Monday, the number swelled to 3000. Patients and caretakers were seen standing in serpentine queues at pharmacy and laboratory for hours to get their turn. In spite of many precautions taken by the government, the number is increasing every day.

"Health department and GHMC are conducting review meetings regularly. After a thorough work, it's clear that it is caused because of unhygienic conditions and water stagnation in the surroundings.

We had already imposed penalty on some house owners regarding this," says Dr Hema Latha, Assistant Medical Health Officer, Secunderabad. She further added, "Nearly 100 houses which came to our notice had undergone through mosquito fumigation process. We analysed the situation and are trying to stop the growth of number."

"On an average, the outpatient number is reaching 2,000 per day and on Monday it has reached 3,000. Female patients and children are visiting high in number when compared to male patients," says Venkat Ramana, a staff member at OP counter in Fever Hospital.

"We have been waiting for 2 hours in queue before the pharmacy but still we are behind 20 to 30 people. Hospital management should arrange some more pharmacy centers to disperse the crowd," says Nageena Begum, a patient caretaker standing in pharmacy queue at Fever Hospital.

"It's been more than an hour in this queue. There are many patients who are standing in the line. The results will surely alter after being for more than an hour in sun," says Praveen, another caretaker standing in laboratory queue at the hospital.