Victoria Hospital faces drug shortage

BENGALURU: The state’s biggest government hospital, the Victoria Hospital, is plagued by is a shortage of drugs. Families of patients are facing difficulties without medicines not available and are being sent outside to buy the drugs from private chemists.

Often, government hospitals in the state face a shortage of medicines due to irregular supply. Hospitals are even facing difficulties in procuring indented medicines. At Victoria Hospital, required medicines are not available in the hospital and attendants of patient are forced to purchase them from outside at a higher cost.

Regularly used drugs like including gastric medicines like Pan-D, syrups for cough and fever, basic skin cream, tablets like Ciplox tablets and cetrizine are not available.

Nishank, a patient’s caretaker, said, “I need some insulin shots and tablets, but the hospital has run out of stocks and they are suggesting that we purchase medicines from outside. Now I am confused about where to get these medicines. We have been experiencing this shortage for the past three days”.

Ramu, another attendant, said, “We are not even getting cough syrup at the government hospitals. They suggested buying syrup and ointment from outside. This medicine is urgently needed for the patient”.

According to a hospital official, doctors at Victoria are giving available tablets and whenever there is a shortage, an indent is raised with the drug distributors. In some cases, doctors prescribe some alternative medicines. “There is a lack of skin cream, ointments related to skin disease, and eye drops. We will get them. The health department needs to be understand the problems and take proper measures in order to solve the shortage in the supply of drugs and medicines”, the official said.

A staffer at the hospital said, “Sometimes, we may not have a particular brand, but we will have stocks of viprosal ointment and rantac tablets. There are 5-6 types of tablets for gastric and we keep three to four tablets types. We have enough stock of medicines related to diabetes, BP and calcium-related medicines. We get medicines through tender and we raise and indent whenever there is a shortage. Sometimes, we will not stock medicines that are not fast-moving medicines. There is a shortage of Ciplox and Cetzine for the time being, but alternative tablets are  available”.