Son hires ambulance for Rs 30K to go back to Bihar for man’s dialysis

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 23

After facing several problems in arranging dialysis for his father, Dalip Kumar, a resident of Bihar, has decided to go back to his hometown with his family by hiring an ambulance for Rs 30,000.

Kumar was putting up in Nayagaon in a rented accommodation for the past four months as his father required dialysis thrice a week. The recent spurt in Covid cases in Nayagaon led to a restriction in the movement of area residents.

“Everything was fine until this happened. We had to struggle every day for ambulances in the absence of any transportation facility to reach a private hospital for my father’s dialysis. One ride would cost us Rs 1,500. Availing of the facility of dialysis was getting difficult by the day,” said Kumar. As the UT was declared a containment zone on April 18, the patient’s family was restricted to move across the border. Private hospitals, at a meeting held with the UT Administration, have reportedly expressed unwillingness to check on patients from other states.

“A lot of patients come to the city from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other states for transplant. They usually arrange for temporary accommodation in nearby areas. Dialysis is a life-supporting treatment. The lockdown is pretty long for patients suffering from serious illness,” said a doctor at Dharam Hospital, Sector 15.

Recently, private hospitals were advised not to call patients from other states for treatment/check-up. The hospital authorities have been asked to inform the nodal officer immediately if a patient from another state visits.

Due to such orders, a man from Baddi, Sajan Sharma, had faced problems after his one-and-a-half-year-old daughter was not admitted to a private hospital. “Whenever there are complications, I visit a private hospital in the city. I had travelled to Chandigarh at 5 am from Baddi by requesting the police at every naka. I was told that the child will not be admitted to the hospital. The girl was referred to the PGI and we have been in the hospital for four days now. I have left my six-year-old daughter at a neighbour’s place.”

Sharma adds: “I was uncomfortable going to the PGI as there are higher chances of getting an infection there.”

RS Bedi, former president of the Indian Medical Association, said: “All patients requiring dialysis or any other emergency treatment are at the receiving end. No one from outstation is allowed. If you are following up with a doctor for several months and suddenly, you are forced to change the consultant, it will certainly aggravate the suffering of many patients.”

Arun Gupta, UT Health Secretary, said: “Hospitals in other states are competent enough to deal with up to secondary-level treatment. Patients who cannot be managed at the district level can be referred to the PGI.”