Updated: Fri, 12 Dec 2025 07:51 (IST) To get an ultrasound done at NMCH Hospital in Patna, a 70-year-old female patient was sent half a kilometer away in a hired tempo instead of an ambulance, along with family members carrying the patient. (Jagran) Jagran Correspondent, Patna City. The medical system of the Nalanda Medical College Hospital needs massive improvement. The 70-year-old female patient, who was on oxygen and admitted to the ward, was sent for ultrasound with a rented pace instead of an ambulance, half a kilometer away. The cylinder sent along was empty. The patient pulled strings for almost an hour as he arrived for the test, was stopped at the gate of the radiology department and returned to the hospital after the test. Seeing the patient struggling to breathe, the family members kept running here and there pleading for help, but it seemed that the hospital system itself was on ventilator. Remove Advertisement Only Read News When the patient finally reached the ward, she was given oxygen. Daughter Sarita Devi and daughter-in-law Ridhi Kumari, who reached the Center of Excellence for ultrasound with an elderly female patient, said that 70-year-old Kanti Devi of Paharpur, Raghopur was admitted to the TB and Chest ward for three days. When an ambulance was not available, the next of kin reached the Radiology Department at the Center of Excellence, about half a kilometer from the hospital, at 12:34 on Thursday to get the ultrasound done at a rush rate. The family member told that the patient was admitted on oxygen. Mask is on. The cylinder given with the saddle was out of oxygen. Due to parts left in the hospital, a trolley was not given at the gate for the serious old patient to undergo ultrasound. The female patient sitting on the pace continued to breathe. The daughter said that she ran back to the hospital to get the parts. When the parts were brought, the trolley was found. When the patient was taken in, there was already a queue of patients for ultrasound. The patient’s breathing began to quicken. Some people intervened and quickly had an ultrasound done on the old woman. The staff said there is no oxygen in the cylinder, take it to the hall soon. The frightened family members took the patient in the trolley and reached the gate. There was no way to take the patient to the TB chest ward, half a kilometer from here. The family kept running here and there looking for the pace. Found a tempo. With the help of the driver, the family members ran to the hospital after keeping the patient and the empty cylinder on the pace. There is no facility for bedside examination of admitted patients, e-rickshaw service is closed and there is no facility for ultrasound or X-ray which can be done at the bedside even for serious patients admitted in various departments due to emergency of NMCH. Family members drag all the patients into a rented ambulance, tempo, other vehicle or trolley and take them to the radiology department, about half a kilometer from the hospital. The restored service of e-rickshaw to transport patients from the hospital to the testing center has been closed for almost a year. Family members say neither an ambulance is provided by the hospital nor any other vehicle facility is available. For this reason, the hospital site remains a tempo stand. The Superintendent remained silent, the Headmaster said – notice must be taken of this matter, Superintendent Dr. Prof. Attempts were made to speak to Rashmi Prasad, but she disconnected the phone. Even after messages on WhatsApp, no one responded. Principal of NMCH, dr. prof. Usha Kumari said that ultrasound of a serious patient should have been done without waiting for the spare. How was the patient’s oxygen cylinder? We will speak to Dr. Mithilesh Kumar, Chairman of the Radiology Department for the bedside examination of the critical patient. The nurse should have checked the cylinder before sending the oxygen patient for testing. X-ray, ultrasound and examination of such a patient should be done only on the bed. Facility of delivery and transportation is also needed. I look at the whole thing. – Dr. Prof. Ajay Kumar Sinha, Chairman of the Medicine Department and in charge of TB Chest Department.
