THIS HELPLINE IS AN EYEWASH

The helpline number of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital's eye bank, biggest in the state,is lying non-functional for the past few days. This makes it difficult for a deceased person's family members to contact the bank and make donations in time

A dead helpline number threatens to throw a spanner in the works for Gujarat that recorded the second highest number of eye donations in 2014-15.On Sunday, an 80-year-old man passed away in his Paldi home on Sunday following brain haemorrhage.Nagindas Mulchand had pledged his eyes before his death as his last wish was to help a blind person see the world. His grandson Kaushik dialled Civil Hospital eye bank's number ­ 079-22681010 ­ to find out the procedure to donate his grandad's eyes, but nobody picked up the phone.Finally, after much running around, he got in touch with an NGO that helped him donate his grandfather's eyes to Nagri Eye Hospital.

Gujaratis are largest skin donors

Gujaratis save lives of several burns patients by providing 80% of skin donations inIndia, according to National Burn Centre data.

Skin transplant is still in its infancy in India but it can save the lives of patients with severe burns. And, Gujaratis play a crucial role in saving lives of hundreds of such patients in India. According to the National Burn Centre. Of around 650 donations in the past five years, more than 500 donations were made by Gujaratis.

Shortage of medicine hits asthma, diabetes patients

Asthma patients and diabetics sufferwithout doxophylline and insulin as Ahmedabad Civil Hospital did not floattender on time, leading to delay in supply of medicines

Mohammad Qureshi, a farmer from Devli in rural Ahmedabad, was exhausted: physically and financially. He had been running around the whole day trying to arrange for money to get anti-asthmatic medicine for his daughter. Though his 14year-old should have been given the medicines by authorities at Civil Hospital where she is admitted, Qureshi had to face a tough time because the hospital had not floated its tender in time causing shortage of insulin and anti-asthmatic medicines.

Qureshi, 37, said, “My daughter has acute breathing problem. Her condition deteriorated after it rained in our village. We rushed her to Civil Hospital for treatment. She got better following primary treatment. Then, the doctors refused to administer the prescribed antiasthmatic medicine, doxophylline. After repeated pleas, a nurse informed me that the medicine was not available in the hospital. They asked me to get it from outside.“

The farmer spent more than Rs 2,000 ­ an amount he could

Civil Hospital, You’re Disgustingly Filthy

Every year same story: two resident docs down with dengue...BJ Medical College students arefurious with Civil Hospital authorities who keep proving year after year thatthey are incapable of maintaining hygiene on campus

Time and again, Civil Hospital authorities have been pulled up for not maintaining cleanliness on its premises, especially during monsoon. But it seems to make no difference. The hospital’s apathy towards providing a clean environment to its patients and doctors is evident from the most recent cases where two students of BJ Medical College Hostel were diagnosed with dengue. In the past, too, doctors at Civil have fallen victim to the aedes aegypti mosquitoes, the vector transmitting dengue.   

BLOODY UNCIVIL

A 10-year-old blood cancer patient fromMadhya Pradesh was not allowed blood transfusion at GCRI till his helplessfather had arranged for a replacement blood donation at Civil Hospital. It isunethical for hospitals to seek mandatory donations.

In a city like Ahmedabad which is lauded for cost-effective and quality healthcare services, Gujarat Cancer Research Institute (GCRI) kept a 10-year-old leukaemia patient’s blood transfusion on hold till his father managed to arrange for a replacement blood donation at Civil Hospital.

Rs 95L microscope kept locked at Civil

The Cryo Em, an electron microscopeworth Rs 95 lakh that can study Ebola and other highly pathogenic viruses, isgathering dust in a locked laboratory

The most advanced electron microscope that can study Ebola and mutated viruses has been put under lock and key at the E-1 ward on the ground floor of Civil Hospital.

Five-yr-old wins battle with drug-resistant tuberculosis

For the first time in state, a childwith multi-drug resistant TB of spine recovered after two years of treatment

Seven-year-old Sultan Liyas Shaikh from Juhapura is the first child under 10 who has recovered completely from second-line of multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) of spine in Gujarat.

Sultan has recovered completely, living like children his age: going to school, paying football with his friends and having food of his choice after two years of treatment. But it was different two years ago when at five he weighed only 10 kg.

At BJ, saftey is a PJ

Ticker leading to the headline: Last October, twoKashmiri youths were detained for illegal stay at BJ Medical College hostel.You would like to think it was a wake up call for authorities. Nope. The newhostel blocks are even more unsafe

*The new hostel is located in a slum area, 4 km from the college

* Anybody can get in since guards do not check ID cards.
*A month ago, local goons barged into the hostel with weapons and threatened students

* Cellphone worth Rs 40,000 stolen from hostel room

Authorities of BJ Medical College have still not learnt their lesson. After a fire broke out in the one of their hostel rooms last October, police had detained two Kashmiri youths who were found to be staying illegally in a room allotted to an undergraduate doctor.

THANK YOU AIN'T ENOUGH

A team of 115 doctors, nurses,anaesthetists, ward boys and laboratory staff has been working round-the-clockat Civil Hospital, attending to patients fighting the H1N1 virus

Swine-flu outbreak has already infected 2,637 people in the city and claimed 46 lives so far.

Most of them have undergone or are still admitted to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where a team of 115 staff members has been working round-the-clock to save lives. Every day, 21 doctors are assigned different shifts along with anaesthetists, nurses, ward boys and laboratory assis tants.

Masking Reality

Swine flu is not new to Gujarat, yet its death toll has gone menacingly out of control. The state has registered 1,392 cases this season, the highest since the deadly disease struck Gujarat in 2009. Despite this, public city hospitals that receive the maximum number of swine flu patients are being careless with the health and safety of their employees and visitors. Mirror visited Civil Hospital, Shardaben Hospital, VS Hospital, and LG Hospital only to find that the hospitals have violated safety guidelines issued by the Union health ministry.

The guidelines mention that people near wards containing patients with infectious diseases should wear masks and protective gear. Children and pregnant women without masks were seen walking past these wards. Forget family members, even hospital staff do not wear masks and gloves. Doctors who are supposed to use N95 respirators wear simple masks while attending to patients. The respirators are not the same as loosely fitted

IF ONLY THEY BUILT A SKIN BANK - 80 PER CENT OF BURNS VICTIMS COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED AT CIVIL

 Civil Hospital and BJMedical College fail to build a skin bank though they signed an MoU with aEuropean firm during the 2011 Vibrant summit; this despite that fact that abouthalf of the burns patients die following infection due to lack of skintransplant
One patient dies in the burns department of Civil Hospital almost every day. Nearly 80 per cent of these people can be saved if they received skin transplant in time. But Civil Hospital and BJ Medical College, have failed to set up a skin bank despite signing a memorandum of understanding with Euro Skin Bank in 2011, two Vibrant summits ago.

Transfers cripple BJ Medical College

Govt transferred 125 doctors to otherdistricts just before annual MCI inspection; this has led to a massive manpowercrunch at the college

The recent transfer of 125 doctors in two batches has left several departments at Civil Hospital struggling to attend to patients.

The sudden shuffling came just before the annual inspection of Medical Council of India (MCI) but it is BJ Medical College which has to feel the pinch. Departments like paediatric, gynaecology, surgery, medicine and orthopaedic are left with just about half the staff required to function at optimum level.

The health department had transferred 45 doctors in October and on November 25, another branch of 80 doctors were shifted to newly started medical colleges in Patan, Himmatnagar, Valsad and Gotri.

Civil is serviced by BJ Medical College professors. In paediatric department, all senior professors along with the head of the department have been transferred. According to the transfer circular, a copy of which is with Mirror, six staff members have been shifted.

“A department has a head followed by associate professors. But now, as we all have been transferred, this department has become an orphan. There is no one to take adequate action in case of any serious development,“ said a doctor from the department.

INADEQUATE STAFF RATIO

According to MCI guidelines, all medical colleges are supposed to maintain adequate staff-student ratio. But as the newly formed colleges lack in staff, doctors are transferred from BJ Medical College, claims doctors.“They think that this college is the hub of doctors, so anytime they can transfer doctors to fulfil requirements of other hospitals. But what about this hospital?“ asked a doctor from surgical department where 50 per cent of the staff have been removed.Previously, the state government used to transfer staff to colleges where in spection was to take place. After the inspection, they were sent back to their parent institutes. But this time, according to transfer order, these staffers will not be transferred back until the vacancies are filled. This order has already started giving them nightmares.

Even those senior doctors who are to retire in two to three years have been transferred to rural areas which is against government policy.

BENEFITS AFFECTED

Transferred staff members are also upset because their years of service will not be counted as they will be serving at GMERS hospitals. “All the doctors who are shifted are highly qualified and have years of experience. But as now they are shifted to trust hospitals, these years of their service will not be counted while calculating their retirement benefits,“ said a doctor who will retire in 2016.As Mirror pointed out on November 27 (`Health dept acts, only selectively'), in the name of punishment transfer only seven doctors who were practising in both government and private hospitals had been transferred out.

DOCS' CONSENT NOT TAKEN

The transfer circular states that the doctors wanted the transfer and they were shifter after consultation with them. But when Mirror spoke to some of the doctors, they denied giving their consent or being consulted and said the circular was giving out wrong information.

“We have students here and have been practising here for years. So, why would we want to shift to any remote college where there is no facility?“ asked a doctor who has been transferred.

HEALTH MINISTER PAYS SURPRISE VISIT TO CIVIL

Health Minister Nitin Patel sent authorities at Civil Hospital in to a tizzy on Thursday night when he decided to conduct a surprise check. Patel, who had gone to meet an acquaintance at UN Mehta Heart Hospital, went straight to Civil Hospital's trauma centre from there, sources said. Besides checking hospital's registers, he visited the blood bank, MRI centre and spoke to the staff. Two cops stationed at the trauma centre complained to the minister about overflowing drainage line at the hospital, sources said. “They told the minister that they had been putting up with the issue of overflowing drainage line for three months. Despite complaining to their higher-ups there was no respite from the problems as the place had not been cleaned up even once, they said. They also told Patel that the stagnant water was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The minister assured them that the premises will be cleaned up at the earliest and directed the authorities to ensure clean surroundings,” said sources.

Earlier Patel had ordered a probe into the theft of injections from Civil after the expensive injections were found at a private medical store.

Nepotism strikes TB project

The Indian Medical Association projectthat is meant for private hospitals for better implementation of TB programmegets limited to government Civil Hospital and BJ Medical College leavingclassrooms without teachers in the afternoon

Rupali Sharma (name changed), a student of microbiology, and her classmates were hanging out with other students at the canteen of BJ Medical College in the afternoon when she should have been in the classroom. Reason: Their professors were attending a workshop on TB organised by Ahmedabad Medical Association (AMA). The workshop, incidentally, was supposed to be organised at private hospitals.