Elderly couple cry for help as SMS denies treatment

JAIPUR: An elderly couple from Alwar are running from pillar to post at the SMS Hospital and have parked themselves at the entrance of the Urology department, hoping for relief.

A 70-year-old Kamlesh Kanwar, on Friday lay on the stairs, with her broken leg and a leaking urine bag, crying out in pain and in want of treatment. Her 75-year-old husband, Prabhu Singh Shekhawat, is struggling and could do little to help her. Kamlesh has a Bhamashah card but despite that, the hospital authorities denied her an admission. The hospital authorities denied the charges, claiming that no patient had been denied treatment.

Kamlesh broke her leg after falling down the stairs and the couple arrived in Jaipur on Monday, hoping that they would get better treatment at the state’s largest hospital.

“We have been here for five days now. The doctors and the staff diverted me from one department to another but we were neither given a bed nor any treatment. They hushed us away. We have spent the entire week in the corridors and I have been dragging her around as she is in no position to walk,” claimed Shekhawat.

The childless couple, who belong to Deewan ji ka Bagh in Alwar, have nobody else to take care of them. They belong to a BPL family. “I have run out of money and am feeling helpless. Please help me,” he requested, with tears in his eyes.

Rather than having a sympathetic approach, SMS superintendent Dr D S Meena claimed that the couple could be one of the several people who choose to stay back because of the subsidised meals available in the hospital. “I am not aware about this particular couple, but in most cases, patients deliberately do not go back because of the subsidised meals. We do not deny treatment to any patient and this woman too must have been treated,” said Meena.