Patients not getting blood reports for weeks at Victoria Hospital

BENGALURU: At Victoria Hospital, the state’s largest government hospital, patients are facing a chaotic situation trying to obtain blood reports.

Patients are complaining that they haven’t received their blood reports even after a month. They allege that the lab staff keep telling them that the blood sample has been sent to the lab and is being processed, and repeatedly ask for more blood, without actually sending the samples.

Thousands of patients come for treatment every day from distant places, and although the treatment quality is good, some minor errors keep occurring. Patients say there is a major problem here, and the public and patients alike are accusing the hospital of not providing blood reports in time.

Patients say they give blood samples 4–5 times and still don’t get the report. The medical staff who draw blood are delaying sending it to the lab, so the blood clots and the report never comes, they point out.

“The lab staff are not working promptly, and the overload may be causing this. It’s becoming very difficult. Patients are expressing anger, demanding that blood reports be made available quickly. If a large hospital like Victoria cannot provide blood reports, it creates problems for treatment. The hospital administration should correct the lapses in blood testing”, a patient said.

Another woman, a patient’s attendant, complained, “We have given at least 4-5 blood samples, but did not get a report saying that there is a ‘blood clot’ due to the delayed process. This has been repeatedly happening, and I have been coming for one month. Every week I come here, and the report is not ready. There is a problem in the lab”, she alleged.

Nandini, caretaker of a patient, said, “We have been roaming for the last four days just to get a blood sample”. However, the lab staff denied all the allegations, saying that if a blood sample clots, it will not be sent for testing and it also depends on blood type.