Raxaul resident Amit Prakash (name changed) was rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital on Monday after he was stabbed while trying to save someone. The 36-year-old got no medical assistance.
Doctors kept referring him to different departments, saying his case was not related to their department. His relatives finally rushed him to a private hospital where Prakash was operated on the next day. He is recovering but he and his kin are yet to forget the trauma at the state's biggest government hospital - PMCH.
In a nutshell, don't go to PMCH for every treatment. Doctors at the hospital, which gets referral cases from primary health centres, district hospitals and private facilities, tend to turn away serious cases either willingly or for lack of infrastructure.
A junior doctor who checked Amit Prakash, said on condition of anonymity: 'The surgery department was not ready to admit Prakash. Doctors said the case was related to ear, nose and throat (ENT) department.
Prakash's aorta - main artery supplying blood to heart and others - was damaged. Doctors could have operated on him but it involved great risk. The surgery required a cardiovascular surgeon. PMCH does not have one. Doctors in the cardio-thoracic department hold just a master in surgery degree. None has a degree in cardiovascular surgery. So doctors turn down cardiovascular surgery cases.'
After the Hunkar blasts, PMCH had referred Samar Alam, who suffered vascular injuries, to All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi.
A doctor at the medicine department, who, too, did not wish to be named, said: 'Heart attack patients should never visit PMCH. We refer cardiac patients to Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology on the campus.'
A doctor at the radiotherapy department, said: 'The hospital virtually provides nothing to cancer patients. The only cobalt machine is not in use since last year. We cannot provide radiation as technician and radiation safety officer posts are lying vacant.'
The CRRT machine, used for dialysis, is gathering dust since 2009 for want of some chemical agents. So PMCH is not where kidney patients with low blood pressure and cardiac problems should go to.
In fact, even 'HIV cases are also not entertained at the hospital', said another doctor.
A junior doctor at the paediatrics department said: 'At the NICU wing there is not one functional ventilator.'
PMCH deputy superintendent Sudhanshu Singh however said: 'PMCH has done exceedingly well when treating disaster victims, like of midday meal tragedy or Hunkar blasts. Doctors here have conducted rare surgeries. Only heads of departments can say why certain surgeries are not performed at PMCH. May be there is some infrastructure or other issue.'
