Intensive care block at Niloufer, a non-starter

The Niloufer Hospital is bursting at the seams and a new Intensive Care Block with a capacity of 500 beds is ready but thanks to bureaucratic delay, the new building remains unused. Authorities say that they cannot start operations until sanitation, security and medical staff is appointed. Quiz them when the new block will be thrown open and nobody has an answer.

The five maternity deaths at the hospital could have been averted only if the new block was operational say officials. The lack of space, unhygienic conditions, outdated equipment and less staff plague the premises.

A senior doctor at Niloufer said, “A proposal for 92 doctors and 351 nurses apart from sanitation and security staff has been submitted but there is no response from the government.”

The 2,20,000 sqft block needs good sanitation doctors at Niloufer say that they could as well start operations and the appointment of said staff could be added later as the burden on Niloufer could be reduced to a large extent.

The hospital with its sheer size has the capacity to perform paediatric surgeries and has the infrastructure to store six litres of breast milk a day. Sunaina, a patient at Niloufer said people especially in the Old City have been waiting for the new block to become operational. “It is the poorer sections of the society that Niloufer caters to,” she added.