THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sainudeen from Madathara near Palode sat on a wooden stool at the Respiratory Medicine Department of the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. His wife, Zubeida, stood hunching her shoulders, and covering her mouth with one end of the saree that she wore. Helplessness was writ large on their faces. Sainudeen, a chest disease patient for decades, was referred to the Medical College from a hospital in Palode. They came all the way from Madathara to the city to find that the Department of Respiratory Medicine (Pulmonary Medicine) was at least four kilometres away from the main campus of the hospital, at Pulayanarkotta. And when they did reach Pulayanarkotta, they were asked to go back to the Cardiology Department in the main campus as the doctors there suspected cardiac problems along with respiratory problems. Sainudeen had to get an ECG and other tests done. But he was not going anywhere, for he had no money after shelling out all that he had for transportation. ‘’From Madathara we came by bus. But from the main campus of the Medical College, we had to take an auto to come here. That cost us Rs 60. We really don’t have the money to go back in an auto and do the tests,’’ said Zubeida. Sainudeen’s is not an isolated case. If a patient with asthma develops heart attack, a cardiologist’s attention is available only at the Medical College. The chest disease patients who develop renal and cardiac problems are shunted between the two campuses for anything from admissions and consultations to medical procedures. ‘’In several cases, valuable time is lost in transportation. The patients also have to come all the way back to the Medical College if they need any life-saving drugs at night. In all other medical colleges, the Department of Respiratory Medicine is in the main campus,’’ said Dr Fathahudeen, Associate Professor of the Department. The hospital at Pulayanarkotta has none of the facilities of a Medical College, let alone emergency care or emergency investigations. If a patient’s clinical condition worsens, he has to be immediately shifted back to the Medical College Hospital which at odd hours turns out to be a Herculean task. ‘’See, I had a patient today who was referred from Punalur. The doctor at Punalur expects the patient to get treatment befitting a medical college when he asks them to travel all this distance. The patient does not get that sort of a benefit when he is admitted at Pulayanarkotta,’’ said Dr Sajeev Nair, Assistant Professor at the Department. Historically, the Respiratory Medicine (Pulmonary Medicine) Department has been functioning at the Chest Disease Hospital and TB Sanatorium at Pulayanarkotta. But even after the sanatorium concept for TB treatment has become antiquated with patients being advised care at home, the medical college department continues to function a good four kilometres away from the main campus. The doctors too have to travel to and fro as the out-patient units as well as the ICU are stationed at the main campus. ‘’It is not us, but the patients who are put to greater difficulty. We check patients of other departments if they develop a respiratory problem, but if our patients develop, say a heart problem, they have to be transported back to the main campus,’’ said Dr Sajeev. Shifting the in-patient services of the department to the MCH is the only solution to tide over the difficulties. The doctors say that 30 to 40 beds is all that they require to house their patients at the MCH. With the new OP block and super-specialty block being commissioned, this space is available, they point out. Would the authorities open their eyes to the difficulties faced by the Sainudeens in the city and take necessary action?
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