Misfortunes and controversies continue to haunt Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and patients visiting the tertiary hospital. The proposed new OGH building has once again run into rough weather with nursing students refusing to allow the project to commence till their demands were met.
‘Student needs ignored’
The contention of the nursing students is that the blueprint of the proposed new building does not provide hostel and college facilities for them within the OGH campus. Senior doctors also pointed out that the hospital management did not take the nursing students and senior staff nurses into consideration while designing the blueprint of the project.
The new OGH building project has a chequered history. Administrative sanction for Rs. 200 crore to construct the new building was given in November 2010.
However, bureaucratic delays slowed down the new project.
Blasts and beyond
However, the twin blasts at Dilsukhnagar and the inability of the hospital doctors to provide quality treatment to victims in the hospital’s casualty wing on February 21 brought back focus on the pending project.
Alarmed at the deteriorating condition, the senior doctors of OGH took up a week-long strike demanding immediate approval of the project.
The alumni association of OGH, former superintendants and senior doctors forced the health authorities to give an assurance that the project would start quickly.
“The new building project is once again hit by delays. The hospital management has to take the blame for not properly communicating the matter to the nursing students and nurses,” is the refrain from senior doctors.
Trust deficit
The hospital management has maintained that there is a provision for construction of bigger and better hostel and nursing college for students on the OGH campus. In a clear sign of the trust deficit, the nursing students are refusing to consider the assurances of hospital authorities.
Nursing students seek assurance in writing
“The blueprint of the new building that we saw did not have a provision for hostels and nursing colleges. Now, they say that plans for hostel and nursing college are included in the blueprint. We will believe authorities only if they give us an assurance in writing,” nursing students maintained.
