Swanky exterior, Shabby service

The Government Maternity Hospital at Petla Burj that was built four years ago has been in the news for quite some time, but for the wrong reasons. For the past 3 years the hospital has been functioning on the first and second floor which is packed with pregnant women, new born babies and people who come to visits the patients. The construction activity is still being carried out on the top floors of the hospital.

The hospital is choc-a-bloc with as many as 500-600 patients attending the out-patient services every day, out of which 300-400 are regular patients who come for periodical pregnancy checkups. Others patient cases include family planning, nutrition and gynecology.

The hospital premise is equipped with good sanitation facilities and extra care is taken by the staff at the canteen to keep the pantry and the food hygienic but the pregnant women and the newly born babies still suffering with lack of space and beds.

It is quite surprising that the hospital that spent crores of rupees for its construction and that though it looks quite plush from the outside, it presents a shabby picture.

“The third and the fourth floor are still under construction and once it gets completed, few patients from the lower floors will be shifted to the top floors, which will clear the overcrowding”, said Dr Sridevi, RMO. The doctor also said that the hospital lacks the required workforce in terms of nurses and attendants. Other than that there is a scarcity of beds for the patients who sometimes double the available capacity. The higher authorities have been informed about their needs and everything will be setup in the next six months. The building construction will be completed and the number of beds will be increased by then.