Coimbatore: The govt hospital at Mettupalayam is turning away patients, including the ones coming for the scheduled echocardiogram, citing shortage of doctors. Blaming the hospital management for the sad state of affairs, patients say the situation has been the same for the past two weeks.N Valliyamma, 48, of Mettupalayam, who accompanied her husband who was ill and wanted to do an echo, said, “My husband’s condition is getting worse. Doctors had suggested an echo to begin treatment based on the test results. But the hospital management is sending us back citing unavailability of doctors.” Many patients whose echo has been due for more than three weeks had to return home without taking the test again on Thursday. Among them are pregnant women registered at the hospital. One of the patients, who didn’t want to be identified, said the pregnant women from the hospital were being referred to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) for periodical tests, including thyroid. “CMCH is more than 30 kilometres away. How do they expect patients to travel that long just for a single test. Moreover, CMCH is crowded with patients from other districts in the western Tamil Nadu,” the patient said. Sources also informed that echo tests were being carried out only twice a week that too through private hospitals. Videos of many patients, who were frustrated after being sent back home without conducting tests in the absence of doctors, have surfaced on social media, raising concerns over the healthcare system in rural areas. Pointing out that the patients visiting the govt hospital at Mettupalayam were mainly from tribal background and daily wage labourers, S Basha, coordinator, Namma Mettupalayam Social Welfare Committee, said, “Rather than running tests through private hospitals, govt should appoint technicians at the govt hospital to handle the same for the benefit of the general public.” Attempts to reach Dr Sumathi, joint director, health services, Coimbatore district, for a comment didn’t yield any results.
