Bangalore, Sept. 6, 2018: Leprosy hospital near Krantivira Sangoli Rayana Metro Station doesn’t allow their outpatients to use the washroom. When asked by the patients, “Where is the washroom?”, they say, “Toilet Illa” (No Washroom).
Lakshmi, the cleaning person working at the hospital said doctors have told them not to open the washroom. When outpatients say their need is urgent, they open the washroom after seeking permission of the person in-charge. She added that nearby construction workers or street vendors come here to use the washroom facilities. According to the staff, locking the washroom was the only solution.
The Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010 states that Hospitals should have clean public toilets .
The office staff working there have separate washroom for themselves inside their cabin so they don’t mind keeping the room locked.
Lalitha, the in-charge of the hospital, mentioned that, “we keep it locked and don’t allow outpatients, because outsiders come and make the washroom dirty.” The washroom is locked and the door leading to it is also locked so that no one can see it. She added that, “if the person asks decently we open the washroom”. She said that in average, outpatients wait in the hospital for two hours and rarely anyone asks for washroom, it’s the outsiders who enter the hospital to use the washroom.
Medical officer Ayub Ali Khan Zai said, “We have washroom but it is not public washroom so we don’t allow.” He mentioned that we have separate washroom for in bed patients.
According to the statics provided by leprosy hospital, in a month, leprosy hospital sees an average of 3700 outpatients, and in a day, around 50.
