Niloufer Hospital for Women and Children is seeing an unprecedented inflow of patients from the surrounding districts over the last five days. Though the hospital has 500 beds, nearly 1,500 patients have been seeking admission.
The surge is attributed to the outbreak of viral fever in districts like Nizamabad and Medak. They come to Niloufer because it is the only children’s hospital in the region.
Basic services at the hospital are not at their best. A woman from Barkas, Hyderabad, who admitted her child at the hospital, said: “I was made to run from pillar to post for several hours before they admitted my son.”
There is also a huge staff crunch at the hospital. There is a total of 103 medical officers, including assistant professors, associate professors and professors.
On Thursday, the total number of patients was 1,424, while the total discharges were 232. Total admissions were 243, of which 174 were children.
Hospital superintendent Dr D. Ranganath said in spite of the lack of facilities for such a huge number of patients, they are doing their best. “We are providing free food to all patients and relatives and giving free medicines,” he said.