Hyderabad: A day after a man was forced to use a toy car as a wheelchair after his wife refused to pay a bribe, it can be revealed that at almost all government hospitals in the state, patients are often swarmed by support staff who demand money for even the simplest of healthcare services.
Patients claim they have been forced to pay for stretchers, wheelchairs, oxygen cylinders and other crucial equipment. There’s even a ‘going rate’ for such equipment.
An amount of Rs 200 is the minimum and in specialist units of hospitals — such as the labour ward — bribes being demanded range from Rs 350 to Rs 500, per patient.
A senior healthcare volunteer in the city says there’s no one stopping these support staff from asking for bribes. “Class IV employees openly ask for money. There is no supervisor and doctors are busy dealing with the rush.”
The Class IV category includes hospital support staff — attenders, aayahs etc. They get salaries ranging from of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. M. Narsimha, the general secretary of the contract employees union says: “The biggest problem with contract employees is they are not getting paid on time. It takes two months before salaries are released. Which is why these employees are resorting to such activities. But we don’t condone such behaviour.”
The healthcare system too is heavily dependent on these workers for the moving around of equipment between wards and other jobs which don’t require specialist skills. Doctors believe such employees must be developed through proper training.
Dr A.Ratnam, a senior hospital administration advisor says: “The government has to ensure their best interests are taken care of and there has to be proper communication. A lack of supervision is also causing major problems in the system. Hospitals must have regular interactions with their support staff.”
