Bed bugs on waiting benches kept me standing the whole time

My journey for seeking treatment started at 9.45am, standing in a queue to take the first slip by paying Rs10. Once the receipt was taken, I was directed by a patient to a long queue to get a prescription paper. I stood in that queue for 30 minutes. A grumpy clerk asked me what my complaints were and told me to proceed to OPD number six (medicine department). I found this without much difficulty as everything is under one roof here. But that's the only positive.

On the building's first floor, I realised that being a patient in a public set-up can be painful. More than 100 patients ahead of me in the queue and unfriendly staff made me edgy. I waited in the queue for nearly an hour, witnessing frequent fights between the patients and staffers. OPD benches were full of bed bugs hiding in the crevices, and I had to stand till my turn came.

After asking me about my complaints, a nurse told me to wait in a separate queue for women. It was another hour before the doctor attended to me.

A laborious three hours to reach the doctor's consultation room, but out of it in 30 seconds! The doctor barely paid attention to my symptoms and hurriedly prescribed paracetamol and antibiotics. When I asked where I would get the medicines from, the doctor directed me to a room and, in the same breath, said there's a possibility that they would have to be bought from outside.

Even though there is a big board put outside OPD disallowing medical representatives from seeing doctors during duty hours, I saw five of them barging inside consultation rooms to market their medicines. No one from the staff stopped them. The hours spent just to get a simple cold and cough treated made me realise the apathetic nature of the place.

What needs to be done:
Medical representatives should not be allowed in the OPD during consultation timings. Hygiene should be given priority and OPDs should be sanitised to get rid of insects, besides ensuring proper ventilation in the waiting rooms. Medicines should be available in hospital pharmacies.

Authorityspeak:
Dr ND Moulick, acting dean of LTMG Hospital
"Poor ventilation has been a problem since Day 1. Administration is trying to work out a solution. Lack of a proper waiting area for patients in the new OPD is one of the worst problems for us. As for the bed bugs, we will be getting new furniture soon. Medical representatives are another problem and we have asked for more security guards who can stop them. We are also trying to get token system for patients to streamline the treatment process."