A family from Bihar that had heard of good things about a private hospital in Sonarpur in South 24-Pargans got a member suffering from cancer admitted there.

They were billed ₹1 lakh for a week-long stay.

Unable to bear the cost of treatment, the family came to SSKM Hospital hoping to get Biswajit Kumar, 35, admitted on Friday.

He was denied admission.

A resident of Nalanda in Bihar, Biswajit was lying on a stretcher in front of the emergency wing of SSKM, but nothing could secure his admission.

At 5pm, the family was busy arranging for an ambulance to take Biswajit to Nalanda, 511kms from Calcutta.

“My brother was admitted to a private hospital on the outskirts of the city for the past one week. We have already spent more than ₹1 lakh. We couldn’t spend any more. My mother had to sell her jewellery for the treatment. The hospital authorities advised us to go to SSKM,” said Biswajit’s brother Ranjit.

“We sell vegetables in Bihar and don’t earn much,” he said.

The family reached SSKM around 1.30pm and went to the emergency wing from where they were referred to the OPD of the oncology department.

“Those at the OPD desk told us that admission time was over. They also said that doctors and beds were not available. We reached the department by 1.45pm. How could the time be over? They didn’t have any answer,” he said.

Nearly 8,000 junior doctors in government hospitals have been on a cease-work since a postgraduate trainee was found raped and murdered at RG Kar on August 9.

Efforts to break the deadlock have not yielded any results and the junior doctors have been now squatting outside Swasthya Bhavan in Salt Lake, for the past four days to press their demands.

“As we came from a different state, we were not aware of the situation here. We don’t want to take any more chances because there is no guarantee that he will be admitted on Saturday. Now we have no other option but to return home, he said.

“We have to book an ambulance to return to Bihar. I will try to get my brother treated locally,” said Ranjit.

His mother was crying inconsolably as her son could not be admitted.

Calls to Pijush Roy, the medical superintendent and vice-principal of SSKM failed to elicit any response.

Not only Biswajit, there were others who were denied admission.

Nimay Chandra Ghosh, 70, who has a cyst in his kidney and a tumour in his bladder and is continuously losing blood, came to NRS Hospital and Medical College from Naihati to get admitted on Friday.

“My father-in-law has a cyst in his kidney and a tumour in his bladder. He is continuously losing blood and is unable to eat. We came to NRS for his admission on September 5. The hospital authorities had then told us to come on September 13. When we went to the Urology OPD today, the doctors prescribed some medicines and told us to admit my father-in-law to some local hospital. They said that his admission was not possible as there are not enough doctors to treat him”, Kusum, Nimay’s daughter-in-law told Metro.

“My husband is an e-rickshaw driver and we don’t earn much. Today the ambulance we hired cost us ₹7,000. A family like ours can’t bear such expenses every day. We had no other option but to take him home” said Kusum.

Indrani Dey, the medical superintendent cum vice-principal of NRS Medical College and Hospital said: “We are admitting those who need hospitalisation. Services to patients have not been disrupted. We are receiving more patients in the OPD now”.