The medical store at the city’s premier health hub is unable to provide basic medicines or first-aid amid allegations that some doctors of the hospital run their private stores, forcing patients to buy from those.

Gopalganj resident Ravindra Yadav couldn’t get a bandage for his brother from the medical store of the emergency wing of Patna Medical College and Hospital.

While patients’ attendants alleged they couldn’t get most of the drugs from the medical store of PMCH, owners of the private stores had startling revelations. “Some doctors of PMCH run their own medical stores outside the hospital campus. Many times, they direct patients’ attendants to buy from their shops,” said one such store owner.

When The Telegraph asked a PMCH doctor about the alleged practice, he said: “Yes, I know about it. There is a renowned doctor at PMCH who runs his shop just in front of the hospital. Nothing will change even if you highlight these things. All the medics at the health hub know about it.”

A shock to many, for Yadav it has been an eye-opener on the inability of the health hub’s medical store to provide even the basic requirements.

He said: “For the past 15 days, I have been denied bandage. Attendants at the medical store said it was not available and they even directed me to get it from a shop outside the hospital campus.” Yadav’s elder brother, Manoj Yadav (60), is admitted in the emergency wing of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

“My brother met with an accident last month while alighting from a train. His right leg got severed near the knee and the left leg was injured. Next day, we admitted him to PMCH. But I had no idea he would have to suffer like this.”

“Since he got admitted here, I have to run to the medical store outside to get bandage for his dressing. It is pathetic that the medical store of the emergency wing of the hospital does not even have a basic thing like a bandage. The hospital can’t even provide necessary facilities to emergency patients,” rued Yadav.

He said: “I didn’t get antibiotics as well from the medical store of the emergency wing, including linezolid, dalacin and leon. I had to shell out Rs 517 at the store outside the hospital.”

Sources said the medical store provides 50 per cent rebate on medicines unlike private stores outside.

Not only Yadav, Aurangabad resident Ramji couldn’t get several medicines from the drug store of the emergency wing and he had to run to a private shop to get those.

“I couldn’t get a single antibiotic, including including ceftriaxone, amikacin and others, prescribed by the doctor for my brother Anuj. I have spent around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 to buy medicines only. If these drugs had been available at the medical store of the hospital, I would have got a 50 per cent rebate but who cares? The hospital administration has nothing to do with our problems.”

He added: “The emergency wing of the hospital could hardly provide me all drugs. It provided only one to two. For the rest, I had to run to the medical store outside.”

Another patient said: “I didn’t get dexona injection from the emergency drug store. Now, I have to buy it from some store outside.”

On the shortage of medicines at emergency wing, PMCH superintendent Amar Kant Jha Amar said he would visit the store to find out the truth.