The Government General Hospital (Beach Hospital) in the city has started witnessing a strange trend where “destitute” — mostly senior citizens — who suffer from various ailments come for medication and later make it their permanent abode.
In the beach hospital, Ward No.3 is reserved for senior citizens and people who come as “destitute”.
Free accommodation, medication, and timely food have come as the biggest attraction for such people.
Hospital sources say the patients, even after the completion of the treatment, hesitate to leave the ward claiming that they have no one to take care of them. They ask the staff to let them stay back citing various diseases.
Different situation“In the past, no such considerations were given to any patient at the hospital. Now, the situation is a bit different, as government hospitals are a little more friendly and they get the aid of various charitable institutions to care for the patients,” says a staff at the hospital.
She says all such patients currently staying back at the hospital get good treatment and all other facilities are free.
According to hospital sources, there are also incidents in which the family members bring their elderly to the hospital and do not come back to pick them up.
Re-admit patients“We have a 70-year-old woman here who is totally weak and can’t even meet her basic needs independently. It is the hospital staff who takes care of her needs,” they add.
Doctors are often compelled to readmit such patients considering their age, as discharging them will be seen more as a human rights issue.
T.P. Meharoof Raj, former superintendent of the hospital, says the trend has been the same in several other government hospitals too.
“In the beach hospital, it is usually the police officials who bring the ailing persons from various locations. On completion of the treatment, the admitted person will hesitate to leave and ultimately, the responsibility falls on the hospital staff,” he adds.
In some of the cases, the hospital authorities request the support of various government-controlled poor homes and private charitable institutions to rehabilitate such patients.
But, lack of space in such firms comes as a hurdle in most of the occasions.
