16-Apr-2014
A Selvaraj
CHENNAI: A 40-year-old mentally-ill woman, who was pregnant, was on Tuesday shuttled between Nazarethpet near Poonamallee and Government General Hospital here where authorities refused to admit her. She was later entrusted to an NGO in Thiruverkadu.
An inspector of the Nazarethpet police said they had been informed by passersby about a woman roaming the streets in a night gown early in the morning. “After we found she was pregnant, we informed volunteers of NGO, Udhavum Karangal, who asked us to take her to GH,” he said.
Soon, the ‘108’ ambulance service was called and staff took the woman to GH where the hospital authorities denied admission saying she needed a caretaker.
She was brought back to the Nazarethpet police station and then sent to the NGO home in Thiruverkadu. “We have a clinic on our campus and two psychiatrists. Initially, she didn’t cooperate with doctors and refused to allow the staff to take a urine test,” Udhavum Karangal founder-director S Vidyakar said.
Later, doctors examined her and said she was healthy. “We tried to get her to speak through various means, but she never uttered a word,” said a doctor.
The woman gave her name as ‘Eswari’ on one occasion and later said it was ‘Kavitha’. “We are not sure of her name. She might be from the same or a resident of a nearby area,” Vidyakar said.
When contacted, a senior official in GH said they could not deploy an attendant for every patient. “In this case, the woman was mentally ill and we didn’t have a facility to take care of her along with the other patients. We never ditch anyone on the road. We ask the ambulance staff to take the patient back to the place from where he/she was picked up.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Mentally-ill-woman-denied-admission-at-government-hospital/articleshow/33797167.cms
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