The right to healthcare is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Nepal. However, most of people are yet to enjoy this right owing to lack of their access to proper healthcare facilities and services, especially in the remote rural parts of the country. Such services are not adequately available in the urban centres as well. There is no denying the fact that public hospitals and other healthcare facilities are fewer in number as compared to profiteering private ones even in the urban areas, including the Kathmandu Valley. In such a situation, people are forced to visit private hospitals and clinics for getting diseases diagnosed and treated. As commercial institutions, these hospitals and clinics are guided by profit motive. And they are found charging hefty amounts from patients. But only few of them have better health specialists and instruments.

Bir Hospital is the country’s oldest and arguably the best public healthcare facility. The 129-year-old hospital, which is now being run as the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), imparts numerous specialised services to patients at reasonable fees. Even the patients belonging to the poor families and underprivileged communities have stood to reap benefits from the hospital. Being one of the busiest hospitals in the country, it serves a huge number of patients daily. According to a news report published in this daily the other day, as many as 2,000 service seekers visit the hospital on Sunday and Friday each while around 1,700 patients get to this public hospital to seek treatment of different diseases on other days. The emergency department of the hospital alone sees about 200 patients daily. This department now offers a total of 32 beds. Two of them are friendly to people with disabilities. As a multi-specialist hospital, it offers a myriad of medical services, including major surgeries.

Because the hospital always remains overcrowded with patients from across the country, those who cannot afford to pay higher fees to private hospitals are found waiting for a bed for months. Healthcare services at this hospital are either free of cost for such patients or they have to pay nominal charges. About 378 beds are in operation in the general ward. Their rates are much cheaper than that of private hospitals. It is noteworthy that the hospital has already been given a facelift. The hospital management has maintained sanitation and cleanliness at all the departments. In the past, the patients and their attendants had to get annoyed due to the unpleasant smell emitting from toilets.

However, it is appalling to note that some of the expensive medical instruments such as intra-operative CT Scan machines and Tomotherapy machines have not been in operation. The hospital management conceded that the machines have not been in operation as they were left in dust due to lack of proper spaces for their installation. Several other hi-tech equipment like Angiogram and Mammogram have also remained dysfunctional. The hospital management must operate these machines and utilise all the beds at the earliest possible. The hospital should also make sure that it puts patients first, commits to excellence in services.