It’s tough to beat the staff shortage at state-run St George Hospital. Around 100 young thalassemia patients are undergoing treatment at the state-run facility in Fort. But for the last three years, there hasn’t been a single paediatrician around the unit that is supposed to treat children and adolescents with the inherited blood disorder. All the work has been left to anurse and a ward boy, who attend to the patients on a daily basis.

On a prayer: The thalassemia unit does not have a single paediatrician to conduct blood transfusions for around 100 young patients