Patients complain lack of services as Civil Hospital in Gurugram shifts departments

Several patients and family members accompanying them complained of travelling long distances to visit the Civil Hospital in Sector 10, where the out-patient department(OPD), the gynaecology and the emergency departments have been shifted.

With departments at the Civil Hospital in Civil Lines having been shifted to two different locations in the district, patients, on Monday and Tuesday, complained of delay in accessing health services.

The premises of the Civil Hospital in Civil Lines were vacated to make way for repair work. (parveen kumar/ht photo)

Several patients and family members accompanying them complained of travelling long distances to visit the Civil Hospital in Sector 10, where the out-patient department(OPD), the gynaecology and the emergency departments have been shifted.

A few of the patients also said they weren’t aware of the shift and mistakenly turned up at the Civil Lines hospital for treatment.

Departments at the Civil Lines hospital, which is the district’s largest government hospital, were moved to the hospital in Sector 10 and a polyclinic in Sector 31 earlier this month to make way for the construction of a new building.

Currently, only the health department administration and the district tuberculosis centre are operating from the Civil Lines hospital.

Patients narrated their ordeal of travelling long distances and incurring extra travel costs for reaching the Sector 10 hospital.

Kumar added he had to avail three separate modes of transport to reach Sector 10. “It ended up costing me more than ₹200. I could have gone to a private hospital nearby for the same price,” he said.

Ram Singh, a resident of Dundahera, said he had to get tested for tuberculosis and had gone to the Sector 10 hospital on Monday, but was told to go to Civil Lines instead.

“There was a lot of confusion at Sector 10 about the availability of TB treatment. I had to travel back because they told me TB check-ups would take place at the Civil Lines hospital for a couple of days before they’re moved to Sector 10,” he said.

Parvati, a resident of Palam Vihar who was five-month pregnant, turned up at the Civil Lines hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday but had to go to Sector 10 instead.

“Civil Lines is the main hub of the city. All medical services should be here instead of being far away,” she said.

Dr BK Rajora, civil surgeon, Gurugram, however, said the shift of departments of the Civil Lines hospital has not caused any major inconvenience.

“Buses have been provided to take patients from Civil Lines to the Sector 10 hospital. Till the time the construction for the Civil Lines hospital is not over, medical services will be made available from Sector 10,” he said.