Chennai: Less than three months after chief minister C Joseph Vijay inspected Government Hospital for Women and Obstetrics and Gynecology, the campus remains untidy even as the city claims to have stepped up dengue-control measures. It lacks basic facilities, including seating, toilets, and drinking water.A visit by TOI to the adjacent Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICH) and Government Hospital for Women and Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (IOG) found plastic waste, paper cups, cardboard boxes and pipes — all potential mosquito breeding sites. Children slept on pavements in the parking area. Families with infants sat on the floor outside the hospital blocks. The two hospitals see more than 2,000 outpatients a month.“No matter who inspects, these things don’t change,” said Rathnavelan M, an attendant whose two daughters delivered babies at the hospital. ICH boasts of being the best paediatric govt hospital in the state, and yet children are forced to relieve themselves out in the open.Another attendant, Shyamala S, who has been staying at the hospital for the past 18 days while her daughter, who delivered a baby, remains on ventilator support, said there were not enough toilets for attendants. “The washroom inside the ward is used by patients and attendants,” she said. She is also forced to refill a five-litre plastic water can from a nearby canteen due to inadequate drinking water facilities.Patients and attendants along the corridors of IOG have to remain standing or sit on the floor since there are no seats. The waiting area outside, too, has no chair.This comes just days before the launch of the Thaimaaman Thanga Modhiram scheme to provide a 1g gold ring to all infants born in state-run hospitals. “Instead of fixing infrastructure gaps, govt is looking elsewhere,” said Arappor Iyakkam convener Jayaram Venkatesan.“Hospital-acquired infections are a serious issue. You go to get treated for a disease, and then you may need treatment for an infection you picked up in the hospital,” he said.When contacted, Dr R Venkatesan, ICH resident medical officer said around 300 workers clean the surroundings, and fogging activities are carried out with the help of the civic body.Dr M Gayathri, assistant director of medical education, said sanitation and maintenance work was being carried out on the hospital premises. “Sanitation work is being carried out regularly.Recently, Egmore MLA and school education minister A Rajmohan, at a review meeting at Ripon Buildings directed officials to look into issues at IOG hospital and submit a report. When contacted, the minister said the issues have been noted and will be addressed.
