Dinabandhu Patra waits for relief. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

A 32-year-old rickshaw-puller who fell off a tree and fractured his spine was refused admission in five state-run hospitals on Sunday night. Relatives of Dinabandhu Patra had no option but to take him back to his Bally Durgapur home on Monday morning.

When Patra’s condition worsened in the evening, he was taken to Sramajibi Hospital in Belur, which too refused him admission. He was finally admitted in the male surgical ward of Howrah District Hospital.

“There is a fracture in Patra’s spinal cord. Our hospital does not have the facilities to treat such patients. We will only provide supporting treatment. The main treatment will have to be done elsewhere,” said D. Bhattacharya, an attending doctor at Howrah District Hospital.

Patra, who lives with his wife Purnima, 28, and six-year-old son Rohit, is unable to move his limbs, added the doctor.

Patra’s brother Moloy said that he had fallen off a drumstick (sojne) tree, which he had climbed to collect edible parts, in the railway quarters near his home. “He was brought home by the residents of the quarters. Since he was in a serious condition, we took him to Uttarpara State General Hospital within minutes. The doctors said they could not treat such cases and referred my brother to Medical College and Hospital, where we reached in the evening.”

Patra’s neighbour Kamal Pakre said: “Doctors administered a couple of injections and put him on drip.”

An X-ray was also taken. It revealed a spinal cord fracture. As soon as the doctors saw this, they referred Patra to SSKM Hospital, alleged the patient’s relatives.

It was more of the same at SSKM, MR Bangur and Chittaranjan National Medical College and Hospital. At Chittaranjan, the relatives were told that no beds were available. Moloy said a doctor at the hospital offered them the option of admitting Patra to a Rs 800-per-day bed, but warned that there weren’t facilities to treat such cases.

A senior health department official said shortage of beds was a perennial problem at the city’s state-run hospitals. However, the matter will be investigated if a specific complaint is lodged with the department, he added.