MARGAO: “I am ready to sleep on the floor or any corner of the hospital but please admit me and give me the treatment. I cannot bear the pain,” was how a patient was pleading at the South Goa District Hospital on Friday.
When Herald visited the SGDH, Friday morning, there was a long queue of people outside awaiting their turn for the COVID test. Within the hospital, there were several patients sleeping on the floor due to the shortage of beds.
It is already on record that the District hospital is almost full, and that the ESI hospital at Margao is also short of beds. As a result, Covid positive patients are left with no option but to sleep on the floor of the hospital.
“After testing positive I got admitted in the hospital but there was a shortage of beds and I preferred to take some space at the corner of the hospital,” a patient, on condition of anonymity told Herald.
The pressure on the health services is extreme, as there are several patients receiving treatment sleeping on the floor of the hospital.
On the other hand, while the medical staff is overworked, people who had come to the hospital with family members were complaining about the system as there was hardly any staff guiding or helping them with their queries.
Rohan Naik, who was at the hospital said the government should deploy more staff to help the patients.
Doctors, busy attending to patients, were unwilling to speak, but one of them did state that if the numbers do not drop over the next few days, it would be difficult to treat everyone. He advised that COVID positive patients with no symptoms should stay home and isolate.
Sources at the District Hospital said there is a proposal to shift the COVID swab collection centre from the premises elsewhere to reduce the number of people at the hospital.
South Goa District Additional Collector Surendra Naik said that on Friday District Collector Ruchika Katyal visited the hospital and took stock of the prevailing conditions.
