BHU Head Cardiology threatens fast unto death; Hospital gives in, allocates bed to dept

Varanasi: In protest against the delay in the allocation of extra beds and lack of patient care facilities, Senior physician and the head of the cardiology department Dr Om Shankar at the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) allegedly threatened to start fast-unto-death on Friday but called it off shortly after assurance from the hospital authorities.   

Accusing the administration of neglecting the cardiology department, Dr Shankar had announced his plan to go on fast from 2 pm on Friday because the authorities failed to allot extra beds to the cardiology department in the new super speciality block of the hospital. 

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However, he chose not to start his hunger strike after the administration promised to add more beds and amenities to the cardiology department in the newly built super speciality block of IMS. This agreement was made during a meeting before Dr Shankar began his fast.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Dr Shankar alleged that the cardiology department was promised a total of 90 beds and the area on the fourth floor and half of the space on the fifth floor at the new building of the hospital but never received it from the administration.

He alleged that the cardiology department has been running from the old building with 47 beds and treating all the patients became difficult due to the limited bed capacity, especially with a 20-fold increase in patient numbers over the past 15 years.  

“Every day, we have 300 to 400 patients in the OPD. The patient load in cardiology has increased 20 times in the last 15 years. It is difficult to treat all the patients with limited beds,” Shankar said.

Further, Dr Shankar alleged that even after the promise, the administration did not honour the decision after the building started functioning. It offered only 41 beds to the cardiology department in the new building with the condition that the 47 existing beds had to be surrendered. 

In light of these circumstances, Dr Shankar decided to express his concerns to the administration and announced his plan to start a fasting protest. Demanding 41 beds in the new building in addition to the existing 47 beds and more patient care facilities, Dr Shankar wrote to BHU vice-chancellor S.K. Jain about his planned fast from Friday. 

Taking the matter into consideration, the hospital administration gave in and announced to allocate the extra beds to the cardiology department of the newly built super speciality block of IMS. 

Confirming the update, Shankar told The Telegraph, “It has been decided that the cardiology department will get the full fourth floor and half of the fifth floor. This issue has been addressed."

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