Puri : The district headquarters hospital (DHH) here is going through acute shortage of specialist and postgraduate doctors.
Many AYUSH doctors are now attending patients at some of the crucial wards of the DHH, sources said.
It has been alleged that many patients were denied proper healthcare at the DHH due to shortage of specialist and expert doctors.
Even, a city-based social activist has lodged a complaint with the state Health department secretary and urged the latter to take immediate steps to improve healthcare facilities at the DHH.
In his complaint, social activist Birendra Bhusan Hota claimed that he had admitted his daughter Anita Nanda to the DHH in February, this year. Anita had some health complications.
“One AYUSH doctor examined Anita’s condition in the absence of any senior doctor. The doctor had claimed that Anita was suffering from cardiac diseases and he referred her to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack,” said the complaint.
As per the complaint, Hota had shifted his daughter to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. Subsequently, it was found that Anita did not have any cardiac disease.
“My daughter went through depression and was forced to spend more than a lakh of rupees due to wrong diagnosis by the AYUSH doctor,” alleged Hota in his complaint.
He also urged the Health department secretary to probe the incident.
It is learnt that the AYUSH doctors at the DHH often prescribe costly drugs without conducting proper examinations on the patients. Some patients and their attendants have raised the issue with the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) and Additional District Medical Officer (ADMO) but to no avail.
“The DHH does not have adequate specialist doctors. Some senior doctors do not attend patients regularly. That is why patients do not have any other option but to depend upon the AYUSH doctors for healthcare,” said an attendant.
ADMO (Medical) Brajabandhu Dash said they have asked the AYUSH doctors at the DHH to examine the patients properly before prescribing for costly drugs.
