Kidney patients are facing severe distress as the dialysis service at the Asansol ESI Hospital has been completely shut down. Serious allegations have been raised that, using the excuse of lacking necessary medical equipment, the hospital authority is referring patients to various private hospitals in Asansol and Durgapur. However, the unfortunate part is that when patients reach the specified private hospitals with government directives or referral slips, they are being turned away on the grounds that adequate beds are not available. As a result, critical dialysis patients and their families are spending their days in extreme mental and physical agony.
According to the affected families, they have been running from pillar to post at various nursing homes and private hospitals in Asansol with their critical patients for the last two days. Despite rushing from one hospital to another, they are not receiving the desired treatment. Being turned away in many places under the pretext of unavailability of beds, the helpless and angry relatives finally gathered again on the premises of the ESI Hospital and expressed their anger and plight in front of the media.
The relatives clearly stated that for patients with kidney failure, regular dialysis is a very life-saving and inevitable process. In this situation, the sudden suspension of this service at the government hospital and the tendency to shrug off responsibility by sending patients to private hospitals as an alternative is extremely inhumane. It was the responsibility of the hospital to ensure adequate beds and proper treatment arrangements before sending patients to private hospitals. However, due to lack of accurate information and cooperation, patients have to be rushed from one end of the city to the other in ambulances, which is making their physical condition even more critical.
Demanding strongly, the affected families want the dialysis service at the Asansol ESI Hospital to be restored to normal immediately, so that poor and working-class people are not forced to depend on private hospitals due to lack of extra money. The physical condition of dialysis patients is extremely sensitive compared to general patients, and even a slight delay in treatment can push them towards death.
In this critical situation, the distressed patients contacted the MLA of Asansol Uttar Legislative Assembly constituency, Krishnendu Mukherjee, over the phone and detailed him about the mess in the hospital management. They highlighted the picture of the suspension of dialysis service and the outcry over the unavailability of beds in other hospitals, demanding the MLA's intervention.
After listening to the entire situation patiently, MLA Krishnendu Mukherjee assured the patients of a permanent solution to this problem immediately. He stated that he would personally speak to the concerned health officials and hospital authorities in this regard. Along with this, he assured that all necessary steps would be taken to quickly alleviate the suffering of dialysis patients and normalize the service.
Currently, one question is revolving in the minds of lakhs of people—when will the dialysis service fully normalize in an important health center like the Asansol ESI Hospital? Will the shortage of necessary medical equipment or technicians in the hospital be resolved soon? And until then, what will be the outline of alternative and safe arrangements for patients who are completely dependent on this life-saving treatment?
For now, all eyes are on the next steps of the hospital administration and the health department. It remains to be seen whether the concerned quarters will wake up immediately to ensure the life-saving of these special patients along with general under-treatment patients.
