Few avail of free dialysis facility at Gurugram hospital, awareness required

The centre, inaugurated in January 2017, has treated a total of 3,848 patients till July this year, out of which 1,556 patients belonged to the below-poverty-line (BPL) category

Health department officials, on Friday, said that lack of awareness about the presence of a dialysis centre at the Civil Hospital in Sector 10 has resulted into a low influx of patients.

The dialysis centre at Civil Hospital has treated a total of 3,848 patients till July this year. (HT Photo)

The centre, inaugurated in January 2017, has treated a total of 3,848 patients till July this year, out of which 1,556 patients belonged to the below-poverty-line (BPL) category, even though the facility was built to cater to 10,000 patients annually. Hospital officials blamed it on the lack of awareness among the city’s residents.

“People aren’t aware that they can get dialysis treatment for free at the hospital. When the centre started, the authorities aimed at providing the treatment to more than 10,000 people in a year. But since there is no hoarding outside, people don’t really know about it,” said Dr Jai Bhgawan Jatain, principal medical officer of the hospital.

The centre has 20 beds and eight dialysis machines. It provides free treatment to BPL patients and charges ₹943 from patients of general category.

“Private hospitals in the city provide dialysis treatment for Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000, which is expensive for people with limited resources. But the number of patients we are seeing on a daily basis is three times less than what a private hospital in the city usually sees,” said Jatain.

The facility was started under a PPP model, and is managed by a private firm. Sangeeta Mali, manager of the Gurugram centre, said that ever since the centre was inaugurated, it has not been well publicised. As such, not many people know about it.”

“Two months ago, I went to meet the civil surgeon of the district, Gulshan Rai Arora, to ask for displaying boards informing people about the free and subsidised facility at the hospital. No action has been taken so far,” Mali said. Jatain too said that he has requested for a hoarding that informs people of the existence of the facility.

When contacted, Arora said, “Information Education Communication (IEC) is very important. However, I will check if the facility is being exploited to the fullest or not.”