This is an archive article published on September 19, 2016
Night at ‘Emergency Fever Ward’ in Delhi: Hospital deals with onslaught of patients, guards give pat-downs
Once in, the grim situation caused by dengue and chikungunya was immediately evident. Two doctors attended to patients and a nurse took blood samples. Right outside, there were more waiting for treatment.
Jontu Sahai lying on the ground outside the emergency fever ward at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital. (Express Photo: Neeraj Priyadarshi)
Navigating to room number 2213 at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital involved unprecedented security check Friday night. Access to the room number 2213, designated the “Emergency Fever Ward”, in north Delhi’s biggest government-run hospital was past six guards and a pat-down. Among the six were two hefty men, almost 6-ft tall and dressed in black, in charge of the pat-downs at the first entry point. They ensured no one entered with sharp objects and chewing tobacco. There were two more checkpoints to cross.
Once in, the grim situation caused by dengue and chikungunya was immediately evident. Two doctors attended to patients and a nurse took blood samples. Right outside, there were more waiting for treatment.
At 11.41 pm, voices were raised. Inside the room, on the extreme right, 35-year old Ranjeet, complaining of high fever and chills, was on the stretcher without a blanket. His brother Sanjeet, pacing the room, cried out for help. “Bukhaar bahut tez ho gaya hai. Kucch to madad kar do. Kab se leta hua hai (He is running high fever. We have been waiting for a long time. Please help us),” he shouted and started arguing with the nurse.
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Within seconds, one of the two hefty guards was by his side. The guard shut the door of the ward. “Sab ka yahi halat hai. Kuch nahi hoga. Wapas jao (Everyone’s condition is the same here. Nothing can be done. Go back),” he told Sanjeet, who walked out of the room to get a water bottle. For the next 40 minutes, he stood next to his brother, sponging his body with lukewarm water.
Around midnight, there was no breathing space for doctors and hospital staff.
At 12.15 am, Priyanka (25) was slumped over her husband’s shoulder. She has severe joint pain and high fever. Blood tests are conducted and the doctors tell the staff to take Priyanka to “ward number 1”. No stretcher is provided and her husband carries her to the other ward, almost 200 metres away from the “emergency fever ward”. Priyanka wasn’t the only one who did not get a stretcher.
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Kanhaiya (35) too sought one for his 65-year-old mother who came to the hospital with severe joint pain. He asked the two hefty guards for a stretcher. They did not respond. He decided not to wait and carried his mother to ward number 1.
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Kanhaiya carries his mother to ward number 1. He was not given a stretcher. (Express Photo: Kaunain Sheriff M)
Outside the ward, 50-year-old Satinder, a resident of Begumpur, was lying on the ground. He was given paracetamol more than six hours ago. He waited for further treatment. Around 7 pm, doctors had asked him to collect the blood sample reports. Till 12.46 am, the family had no response from the hospital staff on the reports. “My husband has been lying on the ground for seven hours. They told us to collect the blood sample reports. However, the hefty guards say we have to wait. They are not even allowing us to go talk to the doctor. He has been sleeping on the ground. Just because you are giving us free treatment does not mean you can treat poor people like this,” said Satinder’s wife Meena.
When contacted, a doctor at the hospital said, “There has been huge rush of patients and not a single patient is being sent back. Our focus is to provide immediate relief. Most of these cases do not require hospitalization. Only when there is a urgent need, we are recommending hospitalisation.”
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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Jontu Sahai lying on the ground outside the emergency fever ward at Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital. (Express Photo: Neeraj Priyadarshi)
Kanhaiya carries his mother to ward number 1. He was not given a stretcher. (Express Photo: Kaunain Sheriff M)
