Heavily bandaged and his leg wrapped in a cast, Guravaiah (name changed on request) groans as his stretcher is dragged with difficulty on the potholed roads of SVRR Government General Hospital in Tirupati. Making screeching noise along the path, the stretcher’s wheels spin around erratically every time they get into a pothole and are jerked out of it. Bumping on the stretcher, Guravaiah is taken to the main block for recovery.
This portrays the agonising ordeal of every patient admitted in the hospital’s casualty ward and their subsequent relocation after the treatment.
One among the three major hospitals in the temple city, SVRR Government General Hospital caters to the medical needs of the people across the district. But, there are several issues in the hospital crying for attention, including the absence of proper blacktop roads in the premises.
Depending on the cases and complications, patients are transferred from casualty to the main block, orthopaedic operation theatre (OT) or the Arogyasri block. This movement from one block to another has turned into a nightmare to many patients as they find it difficult to lie down on the stretcher moving on bumpy roads. Speaking to The Hindu , Hospital Superintendent J. Veeraswamy said over 550 metres of road needed immediate attention and conversion into blacktop roads. “Twice a year we repair our stretchers and wheel chairs, which get damaged during the transit of patients from casualty to other blocks. Every time we spend nearly Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 for buying the wheels and fitting charges,” he added.
Besides this, issues like infrastructural repairs, lack of ambulances with advanced life support systems, ICU cots and stretchers, ventilators and much more are among the equipment that is required.
To address some of the problems at hand, a few like-minded people have formed a Voluntary Development Forum (VDF) to look after the development and maintenance of the hospital along with the well-being of patients.
Though at the nascent stage, the VDF along with help from some philanthropists seeks to rectify some the problems of the hospital.
Viral fevers
Viral fevers are slowly on the rise in the western mandals in the last couple of weeks. The Chittoor district officials mooted training classes to medical and paramedical staff at the field level regarding infectious diseases which annually grip interior parts of district from June till October, particularly in the western mandals and Kuppam division.
The district medical and health officials said funds meant for sanitation drive had not been sanctioned to the district so far, causing concern among field level staff in villages.
They asserted that sanitation drive in most villages should be taken up immediately to prevent breeding of mosquitoes that could cause dengue, which shook the district last year. A few days ago, a suspected case of dengue was reported from Kalakada mandal.
