Due to the high number of patients at the State Mental Health Institute of Selaqui, there is no bed left for the admission of any new mental patient in the general ward of the institute. The chief medical superintendent of the mental health institute Dr Abhishek Gupta said this while talking to this correspondent.
According to him, there are separate sections for male and female patients but these facilities are completely packed in the present time.
He said that there is a limit of about 22 male patients and 18 female patients in the hospital wards but this number was exceeded during the lockdown period. Gupta further added that most of these patients are destitute who do not have any actual home to stay in during the Covid-19 pandemic. He also mentioned that he recently talked to the Dehradun district administration about shifting of female patients to Nari Niketan as there is only one extra female patient.
However, he added further, the administration declined the request stating that the risk of Covid-19 contagion is still persistent in Dehradun district therefore the patients will probably be shifted after the situation gets normal here.
On the question of whether any patient was admitted during the current pandemic, Gupta said that the district magistrate Ashish Kumar Shrivastava referred two patients from quarantine centres a few days back for their mental health treatment.
Since there were no beds available for any new patient, the DM himself provided two beds and mattresses for those two patients, added Gupta.
Meanwhile, Gupta added that all the mental patients including women, men and senior citizens need different kinds of assistance and the hospital staff is providing them all the facilities.
He also mentioned that some foundations and organisations also help the hospital management from time to time by providing the items like adult diapers and sanitary napkins for the patients.