Lift failure, no ACs: At Delhi’s GTB Hospital, patients and doctors suffer amid infra crisis

Last week, doctors at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital were forced to reschedule two surgeries as patients could not be brought up to the operation theatre (OT).

- GNS News Agency, June 20

The issue came to light after officials from the hospital raised the matter with the Public Works Department (PWD) to repair the lifts. According to doctors from the hospital, the lifts remain dysfunctional most of the time, causing trouble for patients, doctors and staff. “This is not new. We often face this issue where the lifts don’t work and are very slow. We have seven lifts — at a time, only two or three work, and, sometimes, even they go out of service,” said a senior resident doctor from the hospital.He said that recently, a patient had to stay outside the OT for 12 hours post-operation because the lift was not working, and he could not be shifted to the ward. “When he became mobile, he walked on his own and was shifted to the ward,” the doctor claimed.The Indian Express visited the hospital on Wednesday to take stock of the situation and found that five lifts were not working, including in the casualty, OPD, and ward block.The six-floor hospital with 1,000 beds sees approximately 6,000 patie