Unrest impacts patient footfall from Bangladesh in Kolkata hospitals

Officials said that the ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh has resulted in a steep decline in the number of people coming for treatment at various hospitals in Kolkata from the neighbouring country.

Kolkata: The ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh has resulted in a steep decline in the number of people coming for treatment at various hospitals in Kolkata from the neighbouring country, officials said.

The decline has been consistent in the last one month since the unrest took a violent turn, they said.

"More than 180 Bangladeshi patients visit our hospital every day. The number has decreased to 84 today. It was 129 on Monday," Peerless Hospital CEO Sudipta Mitra told PTI.

Other private medical establishments like the Manipal Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare and Apollo Hospitals have also witnessed a similar drop in the number of patients from the neighbouring country.

The Manipal Hospitals in the city currently has around 37 patients from Bangladesh admitted across its three units in the city — Broadway, Dhakuria, and Mukundapur — most of whom were admitted earlier this month before the consular services in Dhaka were closed down, a senior official said on Tuesday.

"Our monthly footfall at the three units is around 2,300, which in the last one month was around 1,500. On Tuesday, nine patients were admitted, including one kidney transplant patient. They also got their visas at least a month ago and had fixed their appointment date," he told PTI.

According to an official of the Fortis Hospital, patients from Bangladesh, who were supposed to come this month, were calling up every day requesting a rescheduling of their appointments.

"This includes outdoor as well as indoor patients. We have two patients admitted to our hospital at this moment," he said.

In Apollo, six patients from Bangladesh are currently admitted to various wards, an official said, admitting that the number of such patients coming to consult doctors has gone down.

"There is a sharp fall in the number of patients coming from Bangladesh to our Kolkata unit. It has been a 50 per cent drop and this may continue till the situation normalises a bit in Bangladesh," the official said.

Talking to PTI, the CEO of Peerless Hospital apprehends that this decline will continue in the coming days.

"However, we feel that it is a temporary phase, and soon normalcy will be regained and more patients will come. We are more worried about their social well-being in Kolkata till they manage to return home. We are extending all help to them," Mitra said.