Darbhanga: People suffering from burns have to put up with their pain as the burn care unit at Darbhanga Medical College & Hospital (DMCH) has not been functioning for almost a decade now and the hospital lacks resources to treat burn victims.

A 12-bed burn unit was commissioned on the ground floor of the hospital, following joint efforts by the state government and the Darbhanga Raj (royals) in 1982, to attend to burn cases in Darbhanga and its adjoining areas. The burn unit served patients with burn injuries for a few years before becoming inactive.

Hospital sources said, every day, 12 to 15 patients turn up at the hospital's emergency ward with burn injuries.

Those with less than 40 per cent injuries are given first aid and referred to other centres. But the patients with over 40 per cent burn injuries are directly referred to other centres for treatment.

Mohammad Asgar, a resident of Muriya village near Darbhanga, had gone to the hospital to seek medical aid for his 2-year-old child who sustained injuries when hot vegetable oil spilled on him in the kitchen. But he was sent back after initial first aid.

"My child sustained severe burn injuries while playing in the kitchen. I took him to the hospital's child care unit where I was told to take him to the emergency ward," Asgar said. "When I reached the emergency ward of the hospital, my child was given first aid and after that I was told to take him back home. I requested them give him further care at the hospital, but it was of no use. When his condition worsened, I got him admitted to the surgical ward for men at the hospital."

Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital medical superintendent Dr Santosh Kumar Mishra admitted to the ordeal faced by patients with burn injuries, but gave assurances that the situation had been communicated to higher authorities.

"Patients with less than 40 per cent burn injuries can be treated, but anything above that needs referral to a higher centre, as the hospital does not have a single specialist doctor to cater to the needs of burn patients," he said.