Some of the Covid-19 patients, who were discharged from state-run Gandhi Hospital here after recovery, were all praise for the doctors and the other staff saying hospital superintendent Dr Raja Rao treated them like his children.
The patients, most of them members of Tablighi Jamaat, walked out of hospital after completion of the treatment, showering lavish praise on the government and hospital authorities for making best arrangements for their treatment and for providing quality food.
Most of those discharged praised the doctors, the paramedics and other staff the concern and dedication of. The services of hospital superintendent Dr Raja Rao came in for special praise.
“He treated us like his children,” said one of the youngsters after emerging from the hospital, which is the state nodal centre for Covid-19.
“Dr Raja Rao gave us a lot of encouragement. He advised us to remain strong and told us that we should not be too scared of the disease. His words were reassuring,” said a man from Sangareddy district.
“We all used to wait for Dr Raja Rao to bring the good news (of our testing positive). He used to visit us two-three times a day. It was the best treatment we could have received,” said a man from Warangal.
Dr Raja Rao was Deputy Superintendent of the hospital till Superintendent Dr P. Sharavan Kumar was appointed state coordinator to tackle Covid-19.
The discharged said Gandhi Hospital, being a government-run facility, they had never expected such arrangements but were surprised to get the best treatment and the care.
About a dozen recovered patients shared their experiences before the camera and the videos were posted on Twitter by Health Minister Eatala Rajender, apparently to counter what he called false propaganda by opposition and some people on social media about lack of proper facilities at Gandhi Hospital.
“There are no complaints, especially about food. We got VIP food. We received full cooperation from everybody in the hospital and we also extended all the cooperation and behaved well,” said a patient.
They said though they spent 23 days at the hospital the time flew by.
“We were getting a good healthy breakfast, then tea, biscuits, eggs along with lunch, dry fruits in the evening, then tea biscuits followed by nutritious dinner. Perhaps we would not have got such food even at our homes during this lockdown period,” said one of the discharged patients.
“I don’t know how to thank the doctors, other medical staff, security guards and the police who are serving the people with dedication. We will pray for their well-being,” said a man.
The experiences of the recovered patients came as reassuring to authorities, especially to the medical community amid reports of attacks on doctors and other healthcare professionals serving on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19.
Gandhi Hospital itself had seen an untoward incident early this month when a Covid-19 patient had manhandled a doctor following the death of his relative in the same ward.
Telangana has so far reported 990 Covid-19 patients, an overwhelming majority belonging to Tablighi Jamaat who attended a congregation at Jamaat’s Markaz or headquarters in Delhi last month, their relatives or other contacts.
With the discharge of 16 patients from Gandhi Hospital on Saturday, the number of recoveries rose to 307.
According to officials, 658 persons are currently undergoing treatment in Gandhi and other hospitals.
