Hand over mobile as ‘security’ for stretcher at Delhi's LNJP, wheel it yourself

NEW DELHI: Patients and their attendants get an immediate headache on reaching Delhi govt-run Lok Nayak Hospital. They claimed that the hospital staff routinely ask people to hand over their mobile phones as security when they request a stretcher, which they must then wheel themselves due to a shortage of manpower. The hospital authorities defended the unusual practice, saying it was meant to prevent stretchers from being stolen, given the porous entry-exit system at the healthcare facility. Outside Accident and Emergency, Sunil Kumar kept calling his brother's number to check on their ailing mother. For nearly three hours, the phone remained unreachable — until his brother, Ajay Kumar, explained that he had left behind his phone and retrieved it after bringing the stretcher back. No s