Hospitals play musical chairs in Telangana

Hyderabad: Health minister Dr C. Laxma Reddy announced on Tuesday that the Government Maternity Hospital at Sultan Bazaar will be handed over to Osmania General Hospital. Patients from the Government Maternity Hospital will be shifted to the Petlaburj Maternity Hospital.

Dr Reddy, along with Telangana Government Doctors’ Association, surveyed the Sultan Bazaar Maternity Hospital and agreed to shift 400 beds of the medical and surgical departments from OGH.

Dr Nagendra, president of OGH Doctors’ Association, said, “The out-patients are going to be treated in the out-patient and emergency block of OGH which will be operational for all departments. Only the in-patients of the medical and surgical departments will be treated at the Sultan Bazaar maternity hospital where planned surgeries will be taken up.”

The distance from the OGH out-patient department to the Sultan Bazaar hospital is 4 km.

The state government plans to hire private buses to ferry the patients to ensure they do not suffer.

At the same time, six new ambulances are going to be requisitioned. The in-patients of the orthopaedic department are going to be shifted to the government hospital at King Koti. An arrangement of 150 beds has been done over there.

Telangana Government Doctors’ Association president Dr M. Viresham, said, “We coordinated with the superintendent of both maternity hospitals and the director of health and medical education and then came to this decision. There are two floors which are empty in the Petlaburj Maternity Hospital and 125 beds from OGH will be shifted there.”

Presently, the Sultan Bazaar Maternity Hospital has eight operation theatres and for that reason, the medical and surgical departments could be easily re-located there.

The distance from Sultan Bazaar to Petlaburj is 5 km. Dr P Srinivas said, “It is important that patients do not suffer. As the out-patient department and emergency will be operating on the OGH premises, Sultan Bazaar, Petlaburj, King Koti and Osmania Medical College are all within the radius of two to three km from each other. This will ensure that the medical students can come to these hospitals. Also, at the same time, patients will not have any problem.”