Govt hospital block waits for activity

Senior doctor cites shortage of doctors, nursing staff for beds lying vacant at hospital

One whole block of a special ward, which was inaugrated in 2003 and can house hundreds of beds, in the Lok Nayak Hospital shows off a big lock, instead of ailing people.

 It is the same hospital which accommodates two to three patients on a single bed due to heavy inflow of persons seeking healthcare.

Apart from the beds in special ward, several other beds were found to be unused. In the Department of Medicine only 30 out of 51 beds are used for patient care. "We do not use one section at all," said a nurse on the medicine floor.

Refuting the claim Dr Richa Dewan, Medical Superintendent, LNJP said, "The special ward has not been completely unused. It was functional when we were repairing other wards of the hospital. It was also used in 2010 during the Commonwealth Games."

She added that the hospital is in the process of converting the building into a nursing home. She also said that in certain cases the beds remain empty because the wards are meant for specific purposes.

"The beds in polytrauma Intensive Care Unit are not always occupied because only patients with multiple injuries and critical condition are admitted there. Similarly, the ward meant to be used during times of disaster has 40 beds. It is used only during incidents like building collapse in Chandani Mahal," said Dr Dewan.

LNJP is one of the biggest and oldest tertiary care hospital under the Delhi government.
It gets patients not just from Delhi and adjoining areas but also from states as far as Maharashtra.

Having a footfall of 4,000-5,000 patients a day, LNJP faces crisis in providing individual bed to all the needy patients. However, there are a number of beds which are not being used and lying idle though investment in needed infrastructure has already been made.

A senior doctor said shortage of doctors and nursing staff is behind the beds lying unused.