Achham, November 16:

Hospitals are supposed to provide medication to patients. But the District Hospital, Achham, has been asking patients to visit other hospitals citing lack of doctors and other services.

Officials at the hospital asked Sharada Khati (35) of Mangalsen Village Development Committee-5, who was admitted to the hospital, to visit other hospitals in Dadeldhura three days ago. But the poor Khati family said it could not afford costly treatment in Dadeldhura.

“I can’t afford to take my wife to Dadeldhura,” Sharada’s husband Dhimbul said.

Sharada, who is pregnant, was admitted to the hospital after excessive bleeding.

However, the hospital referred her to hospitals in Dadeldhura district, saying that it lacked doctors and blood.

The hospital has Blood Transfusion Centre, but there is not a single drop of blood in the centre, patients said.

“The Blood Transfusion Centre has come of no use to the hospital because no one is donating blood,” acting chief of the hospital Janakraj Dhungana said.

He further added that people were not donating blood to the centre because they were unaware of the importance of blood donation.

“There is a need to organise campaigns to encourage people to donate blood,” said Dhungana.

He also said that that the lack of skilled manpower was another reason behind the lack of blood in the transfusion centre.

Two patients were referred to other hospitals this week because of the lack of blood, a source in the hospital said, adding that more than a dozen women were asked to visit other hospitals last month.

“Lack of blood is not the only problem. The hospital is also lacking doctors,” a hospital staffer said.