TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Eighty-year old Sita Rama Phadte’s ordeal began late Saturday night when she was shifted to the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim with a hip bone fracture, only to be shunted back to Hospicio on Sunday evening.
Her trauma did not end there. Once being ferried to Hospicio, she had to spend three hours in the ambulance itself before being ferried back to the GMC later in the evening.
Hailing from Sanvordem, Sita was admitted to the Curchorem Health Centre on March 7 with a fracture to the hip bone. She was subsequently shifted to Hospicio the following day at 5 pm for a surgery. After her medical examination, Hospicio doctors decided that Sita was a fit case for GMC doctors to handle and hence shifted her to Bambolim late Saturday night.
Says Swati Phadte, who accompanied her to GMC: “When we reached GMC, we were told there’s no bed available to accommodate my mother-in-law. But, the doctors conducted a diabetes test and found the blood sugar high. They told us that the surgery can be done only once the sugar level comes down”.
To her shock, the doctors at GMC decided to send ailing Sita back to Hospicio on Sunday evening in an ambulance that was returning to Margao.
When the ambulance reached Hospicio at around 6 pm, Sita and her daughter-in-law were in for a further shock. Sita was not being admitted in hospital. For three hours, Sita had to wait inside the ambulance, even as Hospicio doctors maintained there was no point in admitting her as she had to be ferried back to GMC.
Questions were raised as to why the patient was kept in the ambulance if she was to be shunted back to GMC.
When Herald contacted Hospicio Medical Superintendent, Dr Siona Gomes, she said the GMC authorities must have accidentally sent the patient back to Hospicio when an ambulance was returning to Margao. “The patient was kept in the ambulance, probably to save her from further pain since she was to be ferried back to GMC”, Dr Gomes defended.
On the question of keeping the patient in the ambulance for three hours, Dr Gomes said she would find out whether the delay in shifting the patient was on account of problem with the driver or some other problem.
It was only at around 9 pm that Sita along with another patient was finally taken to GMC once again.
But, her ordeal did not end there. When she finally reached GMC, Sita was again refused admission for want of doctors. GMC authorities then requested Sita to go back to Hospicio. When she refused, she was, however, admitted to the GMC at around 11 pm.
