Despite arriving in hospital, a pregnant woman in labor still has to wait for hours to get a bed. [break]
They stay unattended in the hospital premises, garden and the reception area before they are admitted and given a bed. Patients and their relatives ask for immediate care and attention but the hospital resources are outmatched by the excessive flow of pregnant women seeking urgent medical attention.
“No one comes to see my wife. Nor do they give her a bed,” Badri Chaulagain of Dhading said at the hospital. Finally, after three and half hours, she was called in by the doctors. He said he made ardent pleas to nurses and doctors but no one cared. “Hospital staff do not perceive pregnant women’s condition as serious. Dozens of pregnant women are suffering outside the hospital,” he added.
“Flow of the patients is increasing day by day but we have limited number of beds in the emergency,” Director of Maternity Hospital Sheela Barma said. “Despite our best efforts, we are unable to see the patients immediately.” With the start of free delivery services, the number of pregnant women seeking institutional delivery services is increasing.
The government launched ambitious ‘Mother Protection Program’ through public health centers across the country at once in 2009.
Dr Barma concedes that patients have to wait for up to three hours to get a bed. “I am well aware of the problems faced by patients. I see their trauma every day. We are going to place additional beds,” she added.
The hospital management has instructed the staff to give priority to emergency cases and plans to add 10 more beds within a week. Dr Barma said the existing number of doctors and nurses cannot provide quality services to the increasing number of patients.
The government has not created additional posts but the number of pregnant women coming here for delivery has risen tremendously.
According to hospital sources, the government has not provided new staff for last 18 years.
She said the number of patients increased more than three times but the number of doctors and nurses in the hospital has not increased.
Barma said the hospital is seeking help from the government to increase the number of beds, which is currently 416.
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