KEM Hospital orthopaedic ward lift out of order, many beds lying empty

The orthopaedic ward at KEM Hospital in Mumbai was once so full that getting a bed was difficult. Today the ward is almost empty, with many beds lying vacant. KEM is counted among the four major municipal hospitals in Mumbai.

The reason is the ward's lift, which is not working. Reaching the ward has become a major problem for patients who cannot move about. The situation has raised serious questions about the upkeep of essential facilities at an important government hospital in the city. There was no response from the hospital administration.

A nurse, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: "Patients who can walk have been kept in the ward. Many other patients have been shifted to the main hospital building in the other campus or to other hospitals." For patients with fractures, injuries and difficulty in moving, even getting to their bed has become a struggle.

Social activist Haseena Khan said: "If the lift had been out of order for the past few months, why did the administration wake up only after someone raised the issue on social media? These municipal hospitals are not doing the poor any favour. How will a person with a broken bone climb two floors of stairs? Treatment does not depend only on doctors and medicines. Access and basic infrastructure are just as important."

Social activist Heena Sayyed said the orthopaedic ward is meant for patients already struggling with fractures, injuries and limited mobility. In her view, cutting off access to such a ward because of a broken lift is a serious lapse in the hospital's management. She said infrastructure at a large hospital like KEM had deteriorated so much that patients were having to change wards or hospitals. She demanded that responsibility be fixed and that the lift be repaired on priority.

Patients also described their difficulties. One patient said: "I am already troubled by my injury and cannot climb stairs. Being sent from one place to another is very tiring. We come to a municipal hospital because we have no other option. Who will take responsibility for what patients are going through? Both my legs are injured and I am to be operated on next week. I do not know how I will manage after the surgery."

Another patient said they had been operated on about four months ago and the lift was out of order even then. During early physiotherapy, doctors would come to the second-floor ward, but later the patient had to go down to the ground floor. For a few days the patient's elder brother had to carry them downstairs. The patient said: "I hope no one else has to go through what I did."

Another patient, who has an injured arm and can therefore walk, said: "When someone is in great pain, has been operated on and has no strength left, climbing stairs is exhausting even if the injury is not in the legs."

An elderly patient said: "How are we to cope in such conditions? Only people who have no money come to government hospitals like these. What is the point if we have to suffer this much?"