The emergency ward at Patna Medical College and Hospital. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Help is at hand for patients without attendants at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The emergency unit of the facility would have a dedicated space for such patients in around six months.

PMCH principal Dr N.P. Yadav, said the special Besahara (helpless) ward would have separate arrangements for everything, including dedicated nurses and sweepers.

“We had sent a proposal on this to the state government six months ago. We are happy that the state government has finally given a nod to the proposal though it took some time for consideration,” said Dr Yadav.

The health hub principal added: “We received Rs 3.5 lakh which we transferred to the public works department five days ago. The department has been entrusted with the work of constructing the Besahara ward. It would take around five to six months to complete the project.”

Elaborating on the facilities at the ward, Yadav said: “The Besahara ward would have adequate manpower. Nurses, sweepers and other employees of the Besahara ward would not be assigned duty in other wards of the hospital. We want them to give full attention to the patients of this ward who would need more physical and emotional care than those admitted in the general ward because of lack of attendants. Initially, the Besahara ward would have 10 beds. Later, we can increase the number of beds according to the need. The ward would have both male and female employees.”

Yadav said the PMCH receives around 15-20 patients every month who have no attendant.

On the concept behind the ward, Dr Yadav said: “When accident victims are brought to the hospital by unknown people, their family members do not come with him or her. They often arrive after some time of being informed. Such patients have to suffer badly. Though they receive medical attention in the hospital, on many occasions they cannot communicate their problems for lack of attendants. Beggars who meet with accidents are also brought to the PMCH. We also get elderly patients whose children have abandoned them. So they come to the hospital without any attendant. Patients without attendants become emotionally weak, which creates problems in their treatment because health depends on a person’s physical as well as mental well-being. If a person is happy during treatment, he/she recovers well. So we decided to make a separate ward for them.”

He added that the PMCH would manage the payment of the employees recruited at the Besahara ward from its Rogi Kalyan Samiti. “Patients without attendants have to face discrimination from other patients in the general ward. This was another reason for which we decided to create the Besahara ward,” he said.