Bangladeshi patients: Kolkata hospitals reschedule appointments for Bangladeshi patients amid unrest | Kolkata News

Kolkata: Hospitals in the city have started contacting Bangladeshi patients who were scheduled for admission or appointments this week but had to postpone their travel due to the unrest. Dozens of Bangladeshis stuck in Kolkata heaved a sigh of relief on Sunday after the Bangladesh Supreme Court rolled back job reservations, paving the way for the restoration of peace. Hospitals were also hopeful that those who were scheduled to be discharged in the coming days but were sceptical about transport would now be able to go home. Mahitosh Bir from Dhaka, who underwent an emergency angioplasty at BP Poddar Hospital last week, is stuck as he could not communicate with his family back home due to the telecom outage. “I finally spoke to my family on Sunday morning and now that the violence is almost over, I think I will take a flight back if there are no train or bus tickets available,” he said. Md Amarat Hossain, who underwent surgery at Ruby General Hospital and was cleared for discharge, had to stay in the hospital after his bus journey was cancelled. “I am hoping to get a ride now,” he said. Ramjan Molla, another patient at Ruby, was discharged on Sunday and managed to arrange a “taxi” to take him to the Indo-Bangladesh border on Monday. “I will travel to Dhaka from there in another vehicle,” Molla said. “The number of Bangladeshi patients has clearly dropped and many have had to reschedule their treatment plans, leading to cancellation of appointments and planned admissions. However, once the situation stabilises, a rebound in the numbers is expected given the strong healthcare ties between Bangladesh and Kolkata,” said Prashant Sharma, MD of Charnock Hospital. BP Poddar had nine planned surgeries on Bangladeshi patients last week, eight of which were cancelled. Three oncology patients were scheduled for admission on Monday but are unlikely to survive, a representative said. “We are rescheduling their appointments. While we are receiving 55-60 patients from Bangladesh per week in the outpatient department, 18-22 are being admitted. The number had come down to 10-12, but now we are expecting a revival,” said group advisor Supriyo Chakrabarty. Twenty-five Bangladeshi patients are now admitted in three wards of Narayana Hospitals. “The major problems faced by these patients are communication and internet related issues. We hope the situation will improve in Bangladesh now,” said Narayana COO R Venkatesh. Ruby kept its international counter open on Sunday to interact with Bangladeshi patients who were scheduled to arrive in the next 10 days. “Many who were discharged in the last seven days are stuck in Kolkata and some are in need of follow-up treatment and are waiting for money from Bangladesh. Since internet is still blocked, electronic money transfer has been stopped and we are trying to help them,” said Subhashis Datta, Ruby GM – operations. The hospital expects to receive new applications for admission from Bangladeshi patients at its Marquis Street office from Monday.