OGH mortuary still ‘out of order’
Payments towards maintaining the cold storage units pending for the past 8 months
The mortuaries at Osmania General Hospital are stinking. This is due to non-clearance of dues of the cold storage, as payments are pending for the past eight months.
Only four units of the cold storage are working while the other 10 unites are lying defunct.
The existing four units can take 36 bodies. When more bodies come in, they are dumped in the old mortuary.
Dr Sureendar Reddy, former head of the department of forensic medicine at Gandhi Medical College, said, “The cold storage gets spoilt when highly decomposed bodies are kept. Copper and other metals from the body spoil the freezers and it’s often beyond repair. Maintenance of the cold storage is important but due to delayed payments of annual maintenance contract, the companies back out and that’s when the problem starts.”
The maintenance of one cold storage unit costs `1,00,000 a year. The old units are rusted and are not in use for the last four years, sources in the department said.
A senior hospital source explained, “The maintenance of the mortuary, equipment and also the hygiene are looked after by the resident medical officer and the hospital superintendent.
Whenever questions are asked, the head of department is put in the line of fire. His job is to monitor the bodies. If no action is taken by the GHMC, then the hospital superintendent has to intervene.”
At Gandhi Hospital mortuary, the problem is under control. There are 10 units. These 10 units have either been repaired or replaced.
Residents around the Gandhi Hospital mortuary make a hue and cry if there is foul smell. That makes the hospital authorities ensure that the level of hygiene and disposal of the unclaimed bodies are done at a faster pace.
With only two mortuaries, one in OGH and the other in Gandhi Hospital, the load of bodies is high.
Some 15 to 20 bodies arrive on an average a day. To add to this, the load of unclaimed bodies is high during summer and winter months due to the weather conditions.
The TS government is making statements that they want to improve health care in government hospitals to a high standard. The sad part is, there are no proper facilities to store unclaimed bodies and then to cremate them. This attitude is condemnable. — DR.K.LAXMAN,
BJP president The continued negligence of GHMC is extremely unfortunate. It is time the Municipal Minister K.T. Rama Rao, who is known to react promptly on various issues on Twitter, be made aware of this issue every day. — MARRI SHASHIDHAR REDDY, senior Congress leader