ADILABAD: What happens when a government hospital, built to provide quality healthcare for the poor, cannot offer a basic diagnostic tool? For one tribal family at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Adilabad, the answer was a futile 10-day stay, ending in a return home without a required MRI scan — all because a `2,000 contrast injection was unavailable.
Tekam Pothubhai, a tribal woman from Sadalpur village in Bela mandal, was admitted to RIMS on October 6 for treatment. To diagnose her condition, doctors prescribed an MRI scan, but the hospital did not have the essential contrast injection needed for the procedure. After waiting nearly 10 days with no solution, her family left the hospital on October 20. Their ordeal has since gone viral on social media.
Ironically, while RIMS could not provide the crucial injection, several private medical shops continue to operate within the hospital premises. The incident has drawn comparisons to the recent controversy at a government hospital in Hyderabad, where officials were suspended for allowing private medical stores on campus.
Adding to RIMS’s woes, several contractual doctor posts have not been renewed this year, worsening the staff shortage and affecting patient care.
Bela mandal Congress activist S Rupesh Reddy told TNIE that he had taken up the issue with RIMS Director Dr Jai Singh Rathod. “The director visited the ward and assured the family that the injection would be procured, but the matter was later forgotten. It is unfortunate that a poor tribal patient had to return home untreated because of official negligence,” he said.
He added that the hospital administration lacked proper monitoring of drug availability and suggested appointing an additional collector-level officer to oversee RIMS operations, similar to the Education department’s monitoring structure.
When contacted, RIMS Director Dr Jai Singh Rathod said the contrast injection was now available. “It is a rare item, and no supplier participated in the earlier tender. We have now arranged it from outside,” he said. On the delay in renewing doctors’ contracts, he said the process was underway and being handled by department authorities in Hyderabad.
