Kendrapada: Patients undergoing treatment at the Kendrapada District Headquarters Hospital have been facing hardship over access to hospital-provided meals.Under the rules, food supplied to patients is supposed to be delivered to their respective wards. However, at the Kendrapada Hospital, attendants reportedly have to collect meals from the agency responsible for food supply instead of receiving them at the bedside.The food is distributed from a designated spot on the third floor. As a result, patients and their attendants have to carry plates and climb to the third floor to collect meals.Attendants are also forced to wait for long periods before the food arrives on a trolley. In some cases, plates and bowls are reportedly placed in a queue while attendants stand and wait for their turn.The food supply has been entrusted to an SHG association. Questions are now being raised as to why the hospital authorities have remained silent despite the agency’s failure to follow the prescribed norms.Patients and their attendants have also complained about the quality of food. Allegations include watery dal, tasteless vegetables and food being served without several items mentioned in the prescribed menu.The issue had earlier come to light through a report published in Sambad on March 30, which highlighted allegations of poor-quality food and missing items from patients’ meals. Following the report, advocate Rajib Patnaik submitted a written complaint to the health Department.The Additional Secretary of the Health Department subsequently sought a report from the district hospital on June 1. Despite this, there has reportedly been no significant improvement in the situation
Patients’ attendants forced to queue for food at Kendrapada District Hospital
