Seventy-year-old Krishnamurthy from Nizamabad was shattered when doctors declared that his wife, Laxmi Saroja, was diagnosed with a life threatening ailment.
Given the treatment cost, including the cost of medicines, he lost all hope. But ever since he admitted his wife at Sparsh hospice on Banjara Hills, Road No. 12, he is more relaxed.
“Right from medicines, food and accommodation, everything is provided free here. More than medicines, it is the affection and attention by the staff that makes me happy,” says Mr. Krishnamurthy.
Free care
Established by the Rotary Club of Banjara Hills Trust last year, Sparsh hospice provides free palliative care and counselling for people who are terminally ill. It is not just the patients; an attendant is also provided with the free food and accommodation.
The objective is to make patients comfortable during the last stage of their life. Till date, over 100 patients have been admitted in Sparsh and doctors and other staff work hard to make patients feel comfortable, says Trust Governing Body president, Dr. Subrahmanyam.
With a capacity of 12 beds, Sparsh spends about Rs.3.5 lakh per month to provide food, accommodation and medicines to patients. All this expenditure is met through donations from various philanthropists, he explains.
In addition to free service, Sparsh has also commenced home care facility for patients. A team of doctors and nurses visit such patients periodically at their homes to attend to them.
Extending support, Pranav Reddy, a class six student, recently donated his birthday gift of Rs.10,000 to the organisation, the Sparsh management announced.
To mark one year of service, the management organised a felicitation for all caregivers, including doctors, nurses, cooks and others at the hospice on Saturday. Ace cricketer V.V.S Laxman was the chief guest for the programme.
“It is a very noble service by Sparsh and there is a necessity to create awareness among people about this hospice,” said Mr. Laxman.
He wanted the government to extend support to the organisation so that more terminally-ill patients could be helped.
For details
For details contact: 94904-48222 or log onto www.sparshhospice.org.
