Kendrapara: Thanks to the apathy of Health Department authorities, 89 posts of doctors are lying vacant in the district. In view of the poor state of hospitals, patients of Kendrapara are forced to go to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.
A sub-divisional hospital set up on a three-acre area near Kendrapara Government Girls’ School in 1982 was upgraded as a district headquarters hospital in 1993 when Kendrapara district was constituted. Ironically, the district headquarters hospital (DHH) suffers from the chronic ailment of doctors’ crunch till this day.
About 14 lakh people of the district depend on the DHH that caters to the needs of nine blocks. Patients in critical condition at the DHH are referred to SCB in view of shortage of doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
Although the sanctioned posts of doctors in the DHH, CHCs and PHCs in the district put together are 171, currently, 82 doctors are available. There are 26 doctors in the DHH while the sanctioned strength is 62 and 36 posts are vacant, said District Public Health Officer (DPHO) Mirja Babar Beig.
There are no doctors in important departments and posts of several paramedical staff are lying vacant
In the absence of beds, several patients lie on the floor of the DHH. The surroundings of the DHH are littered with medical waste and the patients and their escorts defecate on the dumpyard.
Several doctors of the hospital are reported to have been illegally practising in private nursing homes of Kendrapara.
The construction of the Sick Newborn Care Unit ( SNCU ) of the DHH has been underway on the outskirts of the town for the past two years and when the building would be completed is not known to any authority in the district.
Shortage of doctors in the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and CHCs in the district is a perennial problem affecting the district.
According to official sources, there are only four doctors out of 10 approved for Rajkanika block. In Pattamundai block, there are five doctors out of 12 sanctioned for CHCs and PHCs. Similarly, in Derabish block only five doctors are available out of 12 sanctioned for CHCs and PHCs. There are eight vacancies of doctors in Mahakalapada block.
There are only seven doctors out of a sanctioned strength of 11 in Marshaghai block. Five doctor posts are vacant in Indupur and three in Aul and Patkura which is going to polls.
Worse still, the posts of health officers are lying vacant in Kendrapara and Pattamundai municipality, said health department sources in Kendrapara.
Due to absence of doctors in several PHCs and CHCs, patients depend of para-medics or quacks for treatment, alleged locals. Frequently, patients in serious condition are referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital and invariably poor patients do not have the means to go to Cuttack.
Patients suffering from eye, ENT and psychiatric complications depend on private doctors or go to Cuttack for better treatment.
Interestingly, the state government has recently announced that it would set up a medical college in the district, but the people suspect the government’s intentions in view of the impending elections.
When contacted, Collector Samarth Verma said the district administration has been frequently bringing the issue of doctors’ shortage to the notice of the State Health Department.
PNN
