The blood bank at the Raiganj district hospital is facing an acute shortage of blood, much to the concern of the patients admitted. Friends and relatives of patients are finding it hard to collect a unit of blood and donors are rare. The problem, according to doctors, intensified as blood donation camps cannot be held now as the preparations for the panchayat poll is in full swing.
A staff of the blood bank in Raiganj district hospital Mr Brojen Chakraborty said: “The patients’ friends and relatives are being asked to manage donors for blood required for their patients. In most cases, they fail to arrange donors.” Mr Surya Gupta of Karandighi whose relative is admitted for treatment, said: “We required one unit of ‘B’ positive group of blood for our patient but the blood was not available in the blood bank. We could not get hold of a donor either. So, the surgery of our patient has been held up.”
The superintendent of Raiganj district hospital Dr Swapan Kumar Paul said: “The blood crisis arose after the workers’ unions and political parties, who took the initiative to organise bringing blood to the hospital stopped holding blood donation camps as they are busy with panchayat elections.”
“To reduce the crisis we have requested some social welfare organisations to hold blood donation camps in order to save the patients. Some non-political organisations assured us that they would organise blood donation camps shortly,” he said.