'Proper treatment' eludes Ruia hospital

Tirupati: Whenever any inhuman incident happens at Ruia hospital all fingers point towards the negligence of hospital authorities without resorting to any permanent action. The latest incident in which the ambulance mafia acted like vultures forcing a poor father to carry the body of his 10-year-old son on a two-wheeler for about 10 km has to be seen from wide angle.

This is not the first time seeing such an incident at Ruia hospital which is known for utter negligence in addressing patients' needs and it will not be the last time too. In 2020 a similar incident took place there which exposed the cruelty of ambulance operators after which the police authorities held a meeting with the stakeholders and fixed the tariff which was confined to the paper.

It has been a daily routine there for relatives of poor patients making futile efforts in bargaining with ambulance drivers to carry the mortal remains of their loved ones but could not succeed with their merciless attitude. Even in Covid times, people faced serious problems in taking the patients from one hospital to another as they were asked to pay exorbitant prices.

The hospital authorities never cared such things and show the attitude that it is not their responsibility at all. Everybody is helpless as the ambulance mafia is having strong political support behind it. A patient attendant commented that it is easy for the officials to act harsh against the errant staff but everyone has their own interests. The patients and their attendants always face severe hardships with the rude behaviour of the staff in Ruia hospital at every stage starting from MNOs & FNOs. The resident medical officers (RMO) have to stay in hospital campus itself to attend the duties anytime. But no RMO follows this and no one is cared enough to question it.

The hospital was allotted four Mahaprasthanam vehicles (hearses) which needs to take the bodies of dead persons to their homes within 100 km distance. However, the availability and the information about these vehicles is not made available and it has become an uphill task for the needy to get the vehicles. Further, there was a huge criticism on the poor coordination between RMOs and hospital superintendent which makes things even worse. On the other hand, while collector is the chairman of hospital development society, the role of working chairman becomes controversial. Several doctors and the leaders of opposition parties have been questioning the high handedness of the working committee chairman who even set up an AC chamber besides the hospital superintendent chambers and interfering in the day to day affairs of the administration.