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What a time it was for patients in UHM

NEW BED sheets, neat and clean wards and free glucose drips to patients. This sudden turn around in the fortune of patients admitted to UHM and Dufferin (female) hospital took place prior to the visit of Principal Secretary Energy AK Khurana.

Published on: Jun 6, 2006, 24:03:00 IST
None | By , Kanpur
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NEW BED sheets, neat and clean wards and free glucose drips to patients.
This sudden turn around in the fortune of patients admitted to UHM and Dufferin (female) hospital took place prior to the visit of Principal Secretary Energy AK Khurana.

HT Image
HT Image

Elaborating upon his visit, Khurana told Hindustan Times , “This is not an inspection. It is an overall exercise by the State government for providing better facilities to people in hospitals.” He also said, “I am also meeting people’s representatives and will interact with the public and listen to their grievances.”

It is pertinent to mention that the principal secretary’s visit was a part of the State government’s directive to senior IAS officers to make visits and review development work in various districts of Uttar Pradesh.

Ironically, the principle secretary went back after inspecting a submersible pump and a handpump at the Dufferin hospital, but the preparations made in these two hospitals put the patients and their kin to great inconvenience for five long hours.

At Dufferin, prior to the visit of the principal secretary, the hospital administration went to great lengths to decorate the hospital. Since 8 am, kin of patients were forcibly ousted and patients remained without food and water for five long hours.

UHM hospital is adjacent to Dufferin and it’s inspection was not in the schedule of Khurana’s visit. But here too, all bed sheets were changed and some wards on the first floor were closed. This was done despite the fact that AK Khurana was not scheduled to visit UHM hospital.

Finally, around 1 pm, the cavalcade of the principal secretary reached Dufferin hospital. Minutes before his arrival, Chief Medical Superintendent Dr Usha Vats appeared panicky as she had forgotten to get the submersible room unlocked, though earlier the CMO had briefed the CMS that Khurana would inspect the submersible and handpump installed in the hospital.

After being received by the CMO Dr VS Singh, the principal secretary directly asked the CMS DR Usha Vats to show him the submersible. As soon as the submersible was switched on, the flow of water fell on the principal secretary.The principal secretary was taken upstairs by the CMS to visit a well decorated ward on the first floor of the hospital. But on seeing women lying there, he refused to enter and said, “It would be embarrassing for patients if we visit the ward with a crowd.”

However, AK Khurana questioned an official of the Jal Nigam on how many MLAs were there in the city and how many handpumps through their quota had been sanctioned.

Meanwhile, some patients and their kin lamented the way the hospital administration treated them prior to the principal secretary’s visit.

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