Mapusa District Hospital is forced to send soiled hospital linen and patient clothes to GMC for washing once a week
Patients complain that they are forced to use the soiled linen of other patients
Nurses on duty regret their inability to provide new bed sheets
ANIL SHANKWALKER
Besides their dose of medicines, patients at the Mapusa District Hospital (MDH) could well be prescribed clothing and a set of linen for hospital beds in the near future.
In the absence of its own laundry service since its inception nearly four years ago, the MDH is forced to send soiled hospital linen and patient clothes to the Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim once a week.
And while they await clean linen to reach the MDH, patients have often complained that they are being forced to use the soiled linen of other patients.
One visitor happened to visit the MDH a few days ago and was surprised to find out that the same soiled bed sheet had been used by five patients during a period of 10 days in Ward 221.
When this reporter visited Ward 221 (male medicine ward), it was noticed that some patients were sleeping on bed sheets with numerous holes and stains.
One patient complained that his bed sheet had not been changed in past few days, while another patient said: “When we requested for new bed sheets, the nurses on duty regretted their inability to do so and simply flipped over the same bed sheet and put it on the bed.”
According to hospital sources, the MDH had commenced operations on September 9, 2010, and since then, the hospital has not been able to start its own laundry service, a vital requirement for any hospital.
The first meeting of officials concerned was convened on November 3, 2011 to discuss the setting up of laundry services at the MDH.
“The MDH wrote a letter to the health officials on April 17, 2012, requesting them to install laundry equipment at the hospital. The Joint Director (Accounts – Health) immediately directed the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation to procure and install laundry equipments in District Hospital. However, the matter is still pending with the authorities,” said the source.
In the absence of laundry facilities, the MDH sends a vehicle with dirty linen to the GMC hospital every Friday and the vehicle returns with clean linen which was sent to the GMC hospital the previous week.
“If the washing machine at GMC breaks down or some GMC staff goes on leave, the MDH does not get clean linen on time and the MHD staff employees on duty often have face the wrath of patients and their attendants,” said the source.
Incidentally, the MDH had experienced a similar problem a few weeks ago and Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had to rush to the MDH to take stock of the situation.
When contacted, Vigilance Committee Chairman Paresh Raiker, who was appointed by the Health Department, stated that workload at the MDH had increased immensely during the last three-and-half years.
“At present, about 21,000 patients seek treatment in the MDH’s Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) every month, of which 6,000 cases are new. About 172 deliveries take place in the hospital. Besides, 370 operations are performed and about 20,000 laboratory investigations are carried out every month in the hospital,” said Raiker.
“The Directorate of Health Services has taken steps to start laundry services in the MDH and the laundry service should become operational within the next six months.”
“In the meantime, if there is any delay in receiving the clean linen from the GMC, the MDH has been permitted to outsource the washing of soiled linen to a private agency. The government was not able to start the laundry service due to financial constraints. The hospital still needs six medical officers and 10 nurses and these vacancies will be filled up shortly,” Raiker added.
Commenting on the problem of soiled linen at the MDH, Deputy Director and MDH Medical Superintendent M Mohandas said he has already directed the department officials concerned to ensure that unhygienic clothes are not given to patients.
“Arrangements have been made to send dirty linen to the GMC and to get clean linen back on time,” said Dr Mohandas.
