Newborns bear the brunt of docs' stir

Ward number 43 at K C General Hospital in Malleswaram has more than 20 beds. Saturday evening, the mothers of most of the newborns housed here were a worried lot.The babies have developed various sicknesses, including fever and jaundice.

However, there was no medical help for them in the wake of the ongoing strike by members of the Karnataka Government Health Department Officers’ and Employees’ Welfare Association.

Kamalamma, 50, had little clue about the cause for the high fever that her granddaughter was suffering from.

“My daughter gave birth to the baby three days ago. After the strike began, there is hardly anybody to take care of the mother and the child. We don’t have money to get the child treated in a private hospital. Out of the 19 newborns in the ward, 10 are suffering from fever or other sicknesses,” she said.

No guidance

Manjegowda, a resident of Holenarasipura in Hassan district, said his wife underwent a caesarean surgery four days ago and delivered a baby boy.

“Our child has been affected by jaundice. A day before the stir, we were told to get a blood test done. For the past two days, there has been no doctor or other medical staff to tell us what to do next. A nurse told me to shift my wife and the baby to the Vanivilas Hospital in K R Market. However, stitches on my wife’s body are still fresh and I can’t take the risk of shifting her,” he said.

Many patients at the hospital said there was no drinking water supply for the last two days. Shanthamma, one of the patients, said they were buying water from outside.
“Those who cannot afford money for bottled water and those who have come from villages are struggling a lot,” she said. 

The same is the situation in other government hospitals, like Yeshwantpur General, Jayanagar General, K R Puram General, Indiranagar (Sir C V Raman) General Hospital and several primary healthcare units, have been affected by the strike. All these hospitals are left with either skeletal staff or no staff due to the stir.

Inmates in Jayanagar General Hospital said bathrooms and toilets in the hospital were filled with medical waste and there was the danger of patients developing other health risks.

“There are only nine nurses working in the hospital. Patients were served bread and milk Friday morning and there is no sign of the staff after that,” said an inmate.
A staff nurse, on condition on anonymity, said after coming to know of the strike in the hospitals, many patients had gone to private hospitals.

“We used to get 50-60 cases on Saturdays. But this week, we just have nine people in casualty and many wards are empty,” she said.
DH News Service