Jharsuguda: Healthcare services are in a shambles in Jharsuguda district due to acute crunch of doctors and para-medical staff in the hospitals, a report said Saturday.
This has happened despite the district being represented by health minister Naba Kishore Das. Reports said only 74 doctors work in various hospitals of the district as against 135 sanctioned posts of doctors.
Similarly, 185 posts of para-medical staff are lying vacant in various hospitals of the district. Residents had hoped that healthcare services would improve in the state-run hospitals in the district after Naba Kishore Das was appointed as the state health minister.
However, that never happened as people continued to suffer in the absence of good healthcare services in the hospital. As a result, patients continued to travel to Sambalpur, Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to get proper healthcare services.
Reports said the state health department shifted the district headquarters hospital at Mangal Bazaar outside the town in May last year to provide better and advanced treatment to patients visiting the hospital.
The district headquarters hospital was upgraded to an urban health centre for providing better healthcare services to people. However, that goal was never achieved as people continued to suffer as before.
Reports said that there are six community health centres and 16 primary health centre in the district apart from the district headquarters hospital. The state government has sanctioned 135 posts of doctors for these hospitals out of which the district headquarters hospital has 36 doctors against the sanctioned posts of 45 doctors.
However, what is worrisome is that the state health department in an order (letter-4332 dated-February 12, 2020) recently transferred eight doctors elsewhere when the district is facing an acute shortage of doctors
However, not a single doctor has joined the vacant posts which further deteriorated the healthcare services in the district. The shortage of doctors is not the only reason to be blamed for the deteriorating healthcare services as 185 posts of para-medical staff are also lying vacant in the district. The district has only 1318 para-medical staff against the sanctioned posts of 1503 in various hospitals in the district. Attempt to contact the minister failed to yield any response.
When contacted, the chief district medical officer (CDMO) Dr Jagdish Chandra Barik said every month a report on the requirement of doctors in each of the hospitals in the district is submitted to the state health department which takes a call to fill up the vacant posts.
