Rourkela: The septic ward of the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) was once again in the news Sunday for a wrong reason as a patient was seen taking food left by a stray dog on the verandah of the ward.
Earlier, the hospital authorities had drawn flak for incidents wherein bodies were dragged by dogs and dogs were sleeping near patients.
The nursing staffers of the hospital don’t bother to take care of the patients, most of whom are destitute, it is alleged.
According to reports, a stray dog was Sunday evening seen eating the food served to a helpless patient of the ward. As the patient was not in a position to shoo away the dog, he had to eat the food left over by the stray animal. The hapless person, presumed to be suffering from some sort of mental illness, would have remained starved the whole night had he not eaten the leftover food, said a visitor to the ward.
Though the ward is one of the important parts of the hospital, not a single staffer was seen during the entire day there, it was learnt.
A hospital employee turned up only to serve milk and bread to the patient on the verandah for dinner and left the place soon after. Later, a stray dog managed to consume some portions of the food.
A relative of a patient said the hospital authorities always neglect the ward as mostly unknown persons are admitted to it.
Hardeep Singh Dhot, a social activist who helps out patients, said stray dogs roaming around on the hospital verandah is a regular sight. Many patients are made to receive treatment on the verandah due to shortage of beds inside the ward and face lots of difficulties, he added.
RGH’s chief medical officer Dr Ramachandra Behera said staff crunch in the hospital has led to such problems. PNN
