Front Page

NIMHANS unable to cope with increasing number of patients

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Long wait: A file picture of patients at NIMHANS in Bangalore.

BANGALORE: Sukdev Belvansi, a teacher from a village in Madhya Pradesh, has frequent bouts of seizures. Having tried in vain elsewhere, the 35-year-old Mr. Belvansi has come along with his cousin to get treated at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).

For 10 days Mr. Belvansi was not able to meet the doctor in this premier speciality teaching hospital. Every morning he stood braving the cold weather. But he was not among those lucky to meet the doctor in the Out-patient Department.

On Thursday, Mr. Belvansi, along with a group of other patients, sought the intervention of the institute’s Resident Medical Officer (RMO). It was only then that he was able to meet the doctor. “In these 10 days, I have already spent Rs. 2,000 towards lodging. The RMO understood my condition and arranged an appointment,” he said.

There has been a gradual increase in the number of patients visiting this teaching hospital where over half of them get free treatment while others pay rates that are cheaper than what the private hospitals charge.

Doctors at the institute said they are forced to limit the number of patients. “This is a super-speciality hospital … we cannot differentiate between a person with a headache and a person with a tumour in the brain. Both require equal attention,” a doctor said. Despite restricting the number to 170, doctors have been treating about 200 patients a day.

Among those who were waiting for the RMO’s attention was 62-year-old Yenkamma, who had come with her son, Mallikarjun, all the way from Yadgir near Gulbarga. “She was asked to come today for the treatment of her left hand. Movement has been restricted after she fell down. She loses her balance quite often,” said Mr. Mallikarjun. He arrived early in the morning and came to NIMHANS around 7.30 a.m. “Around 8 a.m. a security guard sent us away stating that the quota for the day was over,” Mr. Mallikarjun said.

B. Jagadish of Chintamani in Kolar district, who has come to refer his aunt, said it had become difficult to get tokens on Monday, Thursday and Friday when patients are usually given treatment. “It’s just a lottery … you have to get the token despite being asked to come,” he said. Patients are forced to make repeated visits as there are no other hospitals to provide us treatment at a cheaper cost. Nearly 50 patients went back on Thursday morning, Mr. Jagadish said.

Venkatesh was among those who returned to his village. “My daughter has been asked to continue the medication. We have been asked to come in February.” For this he has to once again walk three kilometres from his village, catch an overnight bus and stand in a long queue for getting the token.

The doctors said the problem could not be solved by expanding the present facilities in the hospital. The 912-bed state-of-the-art hospital is already complete with 300 staff.

The Government should set up outreach centres in other parts of the State and diversify the availability of treatment for mental illness. “A person in Gulbarga should come here only when the condition is complicated,” a doctor said.

Patients should be made aware of neurologists available at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital and Victoria Hospital too.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu