On New Year eve, Kanjibhai Manjibhai Parmar, a 65-year-old retired employee of the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, had met with a road accident in Gandhinagar and sustained serious injuries.

He was taken to the Gandhinagar Civil Hospital, which referred him to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on December 31.

Later, when a CT scan was recommended, he was sent to another centre because the machine was not in working condition. Moreover, there was no ambulance to shift him to Rajasthan Hospital. Upon reaching there, the oxygen cylinder got exhausted and they had to arrange for it from a private hospital.

“This was not all, the worst was yet to come,” said his son Rajesh. According to Rajesh, soon a ventilator was required to continue with the respiration, but no such instrument was made available to them. Instead, the hospital gave the relatives an ambus bag, which they were to press non-stop to prevent any breathing problems.

There was no other option, but to move the patient to a private hospital. “We have been here for three weeks now and have already spent over Rs 2 lakh, which has left us in heavy debt, just because the ventilator was not made available to my father,” said Rajesh, a tax assistant with the Department of Income Tax.

He said the family had exhausted all resources and was now in dire straits. According to sources, more than half a dozen ventilators at the civil hospital are out of order, though the doctor did not issue a written note that the patient was being shifted for ‘non-availability’ of ventilator.