BJP MLC visits Victoria Hospital following critical remarks

Days after he bitterly criticised conditions at the hospital in the Council, Lehar Singh Siroya visited the hospital twice on the invitation of BMCRI officials

Days after he bitterly criticised conditions at the Victoria Hospital in the Legislative Council, BJP MLC Lehar Singh Siroya visited the hospital twice on the invitation of BMCRI officials.

The legislator reportedly conveyed to the hospital officials the problems he faced visiting the hospital on several occasions in the past.

Debating Budget 2022-23 on the floor of the House, Siroya had gone all out to flay the hospital administration for causing unnecessary inconvenience to the public, especially to the poor.

Speaking to DH, Siroya said there is no coordination between various departments on the campus, while doctors had been taken away from treating patients or teaching students and put on management duties.

Soon after his hospital visit, Siroya told DH, “The moment you enter the hospital it appears as if there is total chaos all around due to the civil works. There are no signboards to guide patients or the public on where to go as the campus has multiple blocks.

“Besides, there is no centralised mechanism to treat patients. As a result, if a patient has multiple problems and wishes to consult different departments, they will have to get separate cards and are made to stand in queue each time. This will not only waste precious time, but make patients lose interest in the system.”

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Siroya also alleged that ‘D’ Group employees are controlling the system at the ground level. “Their masters (contractors of outsourced employees) could be manipulating or harassing them without providing facilities. This anger is vented on the patients and attenders. Also, these contractors are mostly supporters of political leaders and this nexus should be avoided,” he explained.

Referring to the function of doctors, Siroya said, “Most of the doctors are assigned administration and management roles like building maintenance or manpower management rather than attending to patients. This has affected clinical work. Doctors must be liberated immediately from these works and asked to focus on treating patients.

“A probationary IAS/KAS or PWD Department (official) must be entrusted with such maintenance and liaisoning work,” Siroya said.

‘MLC only mentioned parking issues’

Dr Ramesh Krishna, Medical Superintendent, Victoria Hospital, said, “We invited him (MLC Lehar Singh Siroya) to the hospital and asked about the issues he had observed or experienced. Except for the parking, he did not tell us anything else that he reportedly spoke about in the Legislative Council.”

Dr K Ravi, in-charge Dean and Director of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), did not respond to calls and messages from DH.

When DH reached out to Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar’s office regarding the criticism of the hospital by his own party legislator, they said Siroya should clarify his comments and the minister cannot remark on the same.

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