No impact on health services

PATNA: Health services in Patna remained largely unaffected during the daylong Bihar bandh called by the Left parties on Thursday.
Hospitals witnessed a slight fall in the number of patients due to difficulty in availability of public transport. Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) superintendent Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad confirmed that all doctors were on duty.
PMCH’s central emergency in charge Dr Abhijeet Singh said, “Altogether 1,600 patients visited the hospital’s OPD on Thursday.On normal days, the number is anywhere between 2,000 and 2,500. The emergency ward also received only 163 patients whereas the number was 273 on Wednesday.
Sultanganj resident Nilam Prasad, who stood in a queue outside the drugstore at the PMCH, had brought her four-year-old son for treatment at the hospital. “I did not have any difficulty in reaching the hospital in the morning. I found an auto near my house that dropped me here,” she said.
However, Danapur resident Pravin reached the PMCH late. “I couldn’t find a seat in most autos. I reached here around 12.30pm and will have to come again tomorrow,” she told this reporter.
The Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) also saw a decrease in the number of patients.
An NMCH official said, “Altogether 1,383 patients visited the OPD and 21 were admitted to the emergency ward on Thursday. Normally the OPD sees around 2,200 to 2,500 patients daily while the emergency ward receives 50 to 60 patients.”
According to All-India Road Transport Workers’ Federation (Bihar chapter) general secretary Raj Kumar Jha, the bandh had their full support.
“Nearly 70% of the transport workers did not provide services on Thursday. However, they had been instructed to help people who wanted to visit hospitals,” he said.