Taplejung, March 31:

The Taplejung District Hospital has been witnessing a crowd of patients for the last few

days with more people visiting the hospital seeking treatment for illnesses caused mainly due to seasonal changes.

Due to the lack of space, patients are being compelled to stay in the veranda. Around 25

patients have been spending their nights in the open veranda, a patient, Parbati Subedi, of

Phulbari said.

Many patients reaching the hospital have started returning home without getting treatment after seeing the crowd.

Bishnumaya Niraula of Nighuradin-1 returned from the hospital even though the doctor had recommended her to get admitted. She returned as there was no vacant bed. She said she would visit the hospital later.

According to a hospital source, around 60 patients visit the hospital daily. Earlier, the number used to be no more than 25 to 30 a day. The hospital has only 15 beds.

The in-patients have also been facing added problem of noise and dirt as the repair work has been going on in the hospital.

The number of patients visiting the hospital has increased mainly due to illnesses caused by season change, including fever, typhoid, stomachache, diarrhoea and pneumonia, according to Dr Shree Ram Prasad Shah.

He said the patients were being kept in the veranda as the patients’ ward is being repaired.

The hospital was constructed in 1983 and is in a dilapidated condition.

The repair work, which is estimated to cost Rs 9 lakh, is expected to finish within a month, Dr Shah added.