Power cuts hit OGH

Supdt asks Govt to exempt medical services Generators are provided only for some wards Patan Afzal Babu Hyderabad : The poor man's Osmania General Hospital ( OGH) in the capital city, which is the top most public hospital in the state, is not an exception to the woes of power cuts. Though there are generators for three of the vital wings like operation theatres, the outpatient wing visited by hundreds of patients per day and also the casualty ward are the worst hit as the hospital does not have a generator back up for those zones. The hospital is equipped with three generators to provide power back up to the vital wings � operation theatres, ICU and Acute Medical Care ( AMC) . During power cuts, all the wings are provided power supply through generators. But the casualty ward faced the heat of load shedding . During a visit to the OGH on Monday The Hans India Correspondent found that during load shedding hours between 3.00 pm and 4.30 pm, patients and doctors at out -patient ward were forced to spend entire time in the dark. Doctors said they were habituated to the regular power cuts. Left with no option, Doctors stopped attending to out -patient services for at least half an hour in the evening. The impact of power cut in first spell between 9.00 am and 10.30 am was low when compared to the second spell. Patients, who were waiting at the casualty ward, said that they suffered a lot due to power cut problem. A 50 year old patient Rajaiah from Vikarabad said he came to hospital to undergo a check up as he was suffering from orthopedic ailment in his legs and backache. Doctors advised him to stay for some time until power supply resumed. With no other option, he was waiting in front of the orthopedic block. Another patient, Ramaiah, who is in his 40s also faced the brunt of power cut as he has to wait at x- ray unit which resumed its function half an hour after power cut, due lack of sufficient power backup facility. Speaking to The Hans India, Hospital Superintendent Dr Ramdas said that the hospital was equipped with three generators to tide over power crisis. Recently, the hospital procured 11 kv generator to meet the power demand during outages. All possible steps have been taken to overcome power problem. However, the Out -patient ward is yet to be covered with generator facility. Efforts are being made to provide power supply to casualty wards soon. Stressing the need to exempt hospitals from power cuts, he said government was requested to supply uninterrupted power to the Osmania Hospital in view of increasing number patients. A proposal was also sent to the government for installing a solar power generation unit in the hospital. The availability of vast space in hospitals will be an advantage to set up solar power units, he added.