The premier institute of north India, PGIMER (Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research) battles a daily grind of thousands of patients turning up from all parts of the country to get healed from a battery of specialists in all disciplines of medical science. Many return disappointed.
Authorities here say that due to the sheer number of patients who turn up, there is severe pressure on infrastructure and the quality of services has over a period of time has deteriorated with the waiting list for several services running into days and weeks.
“Unfortunately it is my first visit to the PGIMER. I am here for my jaw treatement. The services here for the patients and their family are quite satisfactory”, said Rajveer Singh who was standing in the queue of Oral Health Care Department waiting for his appointment.
The Public Relation Officer of PGIMER, Manju Wadwalkar stated that, our main motto is “Service to the Community, Care for the Needy and Research for the Good of All”. She added,”Doctors and patients are the main pillars for successful working of a hospital. The hospital also has a National Institute of Nursing Education under it, for the training of nurses.”
When asked about the problem of lesser number of beds than patients, Wadwalkar said, “everyday the number of patients getting admitted here is increasing at a large pace but the staff and facilities can not be increased at a stretch. Further, the hospital is serving patients not only from Chandigarh but from various parts of Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh as well. Some of the patients are from distant States too including Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Moreover the OPD (Outpatient Department) of the hospital deals with around 8000 patients daily. And with such a great number of patients, we are unable to provide everyone with 100% facilities.
Ashok Kumar from Amritsar says his son’s having a serious spinal cord problem and is admitted here from last 3 weeks and it will approximately take around 2 more weeks for completion of his treatment. He said that initially, when he brought his son to PGIMER he faced a lot of difficulties for 3-4 days to get general information for the treatment and to sign an appoitment with the doctor. He said that even though its a Government hospital, the cost of medicines are quite high which have to be purchased from outside. The price of tea and other food items from the hospital canteen are also a bit high, thus, he and his family have to feed themselves on “langars” organised by Gurdwaras.
Whenever there is emergency, the patients get directly admitted in the emergency department, and other formalities can be done later by the kins. Also, there is tight security at the entry of the emergency department and only kins with passes get an entry. Proper working of a number of fans ensures that patients and their relatives get some relief in this scorching heat of summer.
Since there are a lot of patients, not their every relative can accommodate inside the building and thus, a lot of people have no other choice than to settle on road side and on footpaths inside the premises. Harnek Singh, one of those who laid their beds on the footpaths, had a totally different viewpoint then that of Kumar's. He seemed very satisfied with the hospital facilities and the treatment his patient was getting. He came here around 8-9 days ago from Faridkot district of Punjab for the ulcer treatment of his daughter. Appreciating the services of hospital and the efforts of the natives of Chandigarh, he said, “My daughter got the bed on the very first day itself as we came here.