Getting sick is difficult. It is horrible to get sick if you are economically weak. Apart from the usual pains such as bills and crowded government hospitals, the commute to the hospital for the poor is especially a matter of distress.
A Long Road
For the common man, who is sick and lives on the most basic income, traveling from home to the hospital is a lengthy affair, even in a city like Nagpur where travel time is usually no more than 20 minutes.
The journey starts with riding a shared auto rickshaw to the nearest bus top. Crammed in with at least five persons, the sick man, with his body burning with fever, is forced to endure the punishment of the situation. Then comes the wait at the bus stop. Nagpur public buses are usually on time, missing most windows, and are always crowded. The sick man, now feeling weak in his knees, if lucky may get a seat to sit.
The rock-hard seats cannot be described as comfy, neither can the bus ride. Sitting shoulder to shoulder with a fellow seated passenger on one side, and should to hip on the other side with a standing commuter, the temperature on the outside feels higher than the fever.
Taking in the pollution, heat, and unpleasant experience of the ride, the sick man, sick of the journey, gets off at the closest bus stop to the hospital. The road ends at the doorsteps of the clinic, only to begin a new Journey, to get an appointment with the doctor.
Dedicated Hospital Transportation
In the Nagpur city center, busses and other transportation options to and from the hospitals are fairly abundant with high frequency, making it easy and cheap to visit a hospital.
However, in the less central neighborhoods, where most of the low-income population lives, bus or metro services are difficult to access, and more importantly, uncomfortable for an ill citizen. Auto rickshaw hopping and changing buses is additional stress on the already ailed.
As Nagpur moves towards its aim of becoming a SMART CITY, a dedicated transportation facility, connecting all the major government and private hospitals, is not only a necessity but also a requirement.
It may be a state-run, private, or public-private partnership project to benefit the population for whom a visit to the hospital is also a luxury. High frequency, more stops at all the major areas to make it more accessible, cleanliness, and nurses on board are some of the basic facilities it can provide to make the commute easy.
A successful example of this can be found within the city itself when a bus service is run for patients to easily reach AIIMS Nagpur. It has 25 stops starting from Sitabuldi all the way to Mihan.
https://moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-line-286-Nagpur-6166-2649018-63523046-0
Hospitals and their Responsibilities
Hospitals have a larger role to play in the process of the treatment of their patients. They can make a greater impact on this process by getting involved in the end-to-end cycle of it.
By taking part in Nagpur city's transportation planning initiatives and presenting the issues their patients face while commuting to the hospitals, they can persuade the city administration for a dedicated hospital transportation service.
Hospitals can also contribute by providing personnel such as nurses and toos like beds and medical kits for these hospitals' transportation services.
Nagpur, being a city of the Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India, along with its short commute time, is best suited to receive a hospital transportation service and lead by example for all the other upcoming SMART cities.
After all, if Nagpur is healthy, it can be SMARTER.
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