A power outage disrupted medical services at T L Jaiswal Hospital in Ghusuri, Howrah, on Saturday evening after the facility’s generator failed, leaving the emergency department and all wards without electricity and forcing doctors and healthcare workers to use candles and mobile phone flashlights.
The outage began at around 6pm, according to a report by Anandabazar. The blackout also stopped the hospital’s lift, creating difficulties for doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, patients and their attendants as they tried to move through the facility.
The disruption affected more than lighting. With the emergency department and wards in darkness, medical staff attempted to keep services running using candlelight and mobile phone torches. The report said the situation created difficulties for patient care and movement within the government hospital.
Patients’ relatives complained that the darkness across the hospital premises made it difficult to walk around safely. They said there was a risk of people tripping, and demanded that the hospital have a dependable generator arrangement as a backup during electricity failures.
Hospital authorities acknowledged that a generator was available but said it had become non-functional, worsening the effect of the power cut. The incident has again brought attention to the importance of operational backup power in hospitals, where emergency treatment, ward care, lighting, lifts and essential equipment can be affected simultaneously during an outage.
Howrah’s chief medical officer of health, Kishaloy Dutta, acknowledged that services had been disrupted because the generator was not working. He said officials had proposed hiring an additional generator if necessary so that similar interruptions could be managed.
Dutta also said that Rs 1.20 crore had been allocated for improving the hospital’s infrastructure. Part of that money, he said, would be used to upgrade the facility’s electrical infrastructure. The district health administration has assured that steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence of the situation.
The immediate response will therefore depend on restoring the existing generator, arranging additional backup capacity if required and using the allocated infrastructure funds for electrical improvements. No further implementation timeline was provided in the report.
