Freedom fighter Mahadev H Naik’s family recalls a day in their life when they decided never to go back to GMC. “I suffered a stroke and was rushed to GMC in a private vehicle. When we reached there, my situation worsened. My family rushed to get a wheelchair or stretcher to wheel me into the casualty room, but nothing was available,” Naik told Herald as he remembered the horrible day where he was living between life and death.

At that very instant, his family members took the wise decision to turn and admit him at a private hospital where he was wheeled in and his life was saved. “It was a last minute decision, but the correct one. If the situation outside only was so bad, what can we expect inside?” he asks.

There is no lack of stretchers and wheelchairs at GMC. The mismanagement is creating problems. If you take a walk in the corridors of the hospital, you will see numerous stretchers of wheelchairs lying around. There is no mechanism to get them back to their designated places.

“I had to spot a stretcher randomly and push it to the vehicle and then struggled to shift my injured father to the casualty ward. There was no help. It was a typical movie like scene where the poor struggle,” said Francisco Gomes.

When patients are brought in time, the crucial golden period is spent transferring him/her to the casualty. This time gap can be fatal.

“Come with me and I’ll show you so many wheelchairs not in working condition,” an employee shot back. About the stretcher, he had another story to tell. “When we face a shortage of beds, we have to keep patients on stretchers. They lie on these stretchers for days. It is easy to blame staff but the situation on the ground is miserable,” he noted.

Blame or no blame, patients visiting the hospital are witness to the increasing problems faced by them due to the officials’ lethargy. A few more stretchers and wheelchairs wouldn’t hurt.