Flow of Bangla patients to city hosps comes to a complete halt
Times of India | 26 July 2024
Kolkata: The flow of patients from Bangladesh to Kolkata has dried up completely following the unrest in the neighbouring country that has stalled bus and train services across the border. Bangladesh patients comprise 12%-15% of revenue for several private health facilities in the city.
Those scheduled for admission and consultations over the next fortnight have been forced to defer their treatment indefinitely.Several thousands were scheduled to visit Kolkata for treatment in the next one month but few would eventually come, said hospitals.
“We have started rescheduling appointments. Around 20% of these patients could eventually get admitted. But with Bangladesh in turmoil, all our patients have been forced to defer their travel indefinitely. There will be a huge backlog even if transport is revived,” said Ruby general manager (operations) Subhashis Datta.
Three oncology patients who were scheduled to get admitted at BP Poddar Hospital on Monday have deferred their admission to the first week of Aug. “Patients have been calling up to defer their bookings. Most are OPD appointments and we have rescheduled them to early-Aug as of now. Additionally, a dedicated Bangladesh help desk number has been introduced,” said Supriyo Chakrabarty, group advisor.
Manipal Hospitals is in the process of discharging its last few Bangladesh patients. “The flow of new patients has stopped since medical visas are not being issued. So we have cancelled all bookings for now,” said a Manipal representative.
At Peerless Hospital, which gets around 120 OPD patients from Bangladesh a day, received merely 2-3 on Wednesday. “These patients are now stuck and doing their follow-up treatment. We are waiting for bus services to resume,” said Peerless CEO Sudipta Mitra.
Meanwhile, scores of Bangla patients remained stuck in Kolkata till Wednesday, including many who are not fit enough to travel by road. Dhaka resident Pallal Saha, whose mother Krishna had a knee replacement surgery at Manipal, said: “We were scheduled to travel back by train. It got cancelled. Since my mother’s movements are now restricted, it will be impossible for her to travel by car,” said Pallal.
Kolkata hospitals will now have to reach out to Bangladesh patients and reschedule appointments, which could be a challenge, said Prashant Sharma, Charnock Hospital MD and the chairman of Indian Chamber of Commerce national healthcare.