Patna Medical College and Hospital. Telegraph picture

Patna, Jan. 2: There’s no secret about the lack of hygiene in the capital’s premier health institute Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) but for attendants of hundreds of patients admitted at the hospital, things are turning increasingly difficult.

Relatives of patients at the hospital complain that even basic amenities like toilets and washrooms are mostly dysfunctional at the hospital. The hospital has at least 2,000 patients admitted at any given point of time. It means that the relatives of ailing patients have no option but to visit public toilets outside the hospital and have to bathe in the Ganga even if the capital is reeling under an intense cold wave.

On Sunday morning, even as thousands of residents remained wrapped in woollies and lay under warm blankets in the January cold, the less fortunate ones — the relatives of patients hospitalised in various wards of the facility from across the state — were seen queuing up at the public toilets outside the hospital. Many of them had to walk several hundred metres outside the hospital and had to leave their ailing relatives unattended. The attendants said almost all toilets in various wards of PMCH were in pathetic condition, left messy and unmaintained for years probably.

“The toilets and the washrooms at the hospital are just dumping ground for garbage and filth. The doors of most of the toilets are broken, glass panes shattered and latches missing, taps either permanently dry or release water all the time, water leaking from pipes and faucets turning the floors slippery and muddy endangering patients and their relatives to fall and break their limbs. Commodes are devoid of seats and the urine and excreta flows on the floors. For patients, there is no option but to use the toilets but we never go there,” said Ramkishan.

Yadav from Siwan district has been looking after his ailing brother at the hospital for the past 20 days. “Cleanliness and sanitation seems to be last word in the prestigious hospital. This apart, there is neither light nor electricity connection in the toilets and its pipes leak causing stench and foul smell to emanate across the wards. A septic pipe passing over the main entrance of the emergency ward leaks and water keeps falling on the floor in drops. “The hospital is a living hell,” said Shibu Kumar, a relative of another patient admitted in the Hathua ward of the hospital.

On the contrary, the toilets for the superintendent, doctors and nurses are well maintained and kept locked to keep them beyond the reach of the patients. “Only one sweeper is entrusted to maintain all the toilets and the contractors are interested in only receiving payment for their contracts,” alleged another attendant.

Sources said the contract for sanitation in PMCH had been awarded to private contractors. No hospital official was available for comment on the issue. Deputy superintendent of the hospital Dr R.K. Singh, also the hospital spokesperson, could not be contacted despite several attempts.