Chandigarh, August 17
Sarabjit Kaur, who has been admitted to the PGI for valve replacement for the past one month, has no idea as to which doctor is treating her or when she will be operated upon as she has been told that it could easily take another two months.
Sarabjit’s case is not the only one as there are many other patients who have been making rounds of the PGI for the past several months, waiting to get an operation date.” It was after making four trips to the PGI, that I was finally admitted, but now I am being told by doctors that my operation could take another two months as some of the operation theatres have been closed down due to leakage from the roof,” says her attendant, Mr Ved Prakash Luthra, from Batala.
With all the operation theatres on the fifth floor of the Nehru Block at the PGI remaining closed for the fourth day today, it is the patients from far off places who face maximum inconvenience as their operations have been delayed. “We are barely able to manage money for transportation and our stay here till the operation is performed but with no date being given to us for days it is getting difficult for us,” remarked Dev Raj from Rampur area of Shimla district. His sister-in-law, 22-year-old Shanta, is suffering from keratitis, an eye ailment where her vision has been affected.
The list of such patients, especially those who cannot afford to go to private hospitals is endless. Had it not been for the serais in the PGI, where they can live at nominal rates, they would have had to spend so much on travelling, with the patient at times not being in a position to take the journey.
The fact that the operation theatres at the PGI, being closed down due to monsoon showers, is an annual feature, has not made the authorities take any remedial measures, which can prove to a permanent solution to this recurring problem.”
On the other hand the PGI spokesperson said that a heavy downpour can always lead to leakage in the old building and the hospital engineering wing is seized of the matter. Without giving any specific date, when the OTs would become operational, she added that after the repair they would be disinfected as per the uniform guidelines, world over.
