Not many of us know that there is a ‘special ward’ at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) to attend to persons without an attendant. This was reason behind 75-year-old Ramasamy getting treatment late by more than a day, last week.
He was in a very bad state as he suffered from dysentery and was found unconscious near the busy Avinashi Road Flyover. The man, who lived on the footpath, does not have a family. He was a head loader for traders near the flyover and ate food they gave him.
Traders said that he was weak and fell ill from the third week of this month and did not eat properly from Wednesday. Chairperson of Coimbatore Human Rights Forum V.P. Sarathy said that he was in very bad condition as he suffered from dysentery and did not get medical assistance.
“On Friday, traders called the 108 ambulance service but they refused to take him from there, citing that he did not have an attendant,” he said.
Mr. Sarathy said that on Saturday traders themselves took him to the CMCH, but the hospital staff allegedly refused to admit him citing the same reason.
“I tried to get in touch with homes for the aged and abandoned people, but they too refused to help him claiming that their homes were either full or were open only to people who could help themselves,” he lamented.
At last help reached Ramasamy around 11 a.m. on Saturday when private ambulance driver D. Shankar attached to Eera Nenjam (an NGO working for abandoned persons) and his helper Muthu took him to a hospital. The unconscious man was given first aid and taken to the corporation night shelter at R.S. Puram, where he was bathed and given new set of clothes.
On Sunday, he was admitted to CMCH as he continued to suffer from dysentery. On Monday, his condition slowly improved. “Our trust volunteer is attending the patient. We had to buy some tablets and adult diapers as the hospital staff claimed that they did not have it,” Eera Nenjam managing trustee P. Mahendiran said and wondered what would be the plight of patients without an attendant.
He said that there are hundreds of aged persons including those from other States living on the city roads. “While some of them were abandoned by their children, there are others who got strayed away,” says Mr. Mahendiran. At times some die unattended. Only after their death the corporation is informed only to perform the final rites.
CMCH dean A. Edwin Joe said that there is a ‘special ward’ in the CMCH for patients who don’t have an attendant. “The ward had 10 beds and an NGO deploys attendants to take care of ailing persons there. Those facing difficulty in admitting patients without attendants could bring it to the notice of the dean or the resident medical officer,” he added.
