Emergency treatment on precarious perch

What is really sad is that even the neurosurgery ward has not been kept free from the noisy visitors and outsiders. The hospital authorities have even failed to prevent cats and skunks from entering the ward. The lapses are not really easy to explain in terms of resource constraints because it smacks of monumental indifference. The patients' cause does not seem to figure in the management of the hospital.

We know that the ward has to admit patients well beyond its capacity. We are also aware of the limitations of the hospital, but nothing can explain why the minimum hygiene standards could not be maintained there. Equally obscure is the reason behind allowing so many people to enter the ward where tranquility should prevail. The health managers have apparently forgotten that patients need the right kind of environment to recover. That is all the more true about patients undergoing neurosurgey. The Ward 30 is only the tip of the iceberg. Patients and their relatives have long been complaining about the mess that they find themselves in at the DMCH.

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The government should give serious thought to the imperative necessity for a balanced utilisation of the budgetary allocations to the health sector. Money should go where it is most needed. It is important to ensure that any investment in this sector is based on correct assessment of the prevailing situation and it must not be lopsided or misplaced. The facilities in the hospitals have to be increased considering the sharp rise in the number of patients. The task is long overdue and any more delay will only make matters worse.