Kendrapara: People of this coastal district are forced to go for medical treatment to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack as 40 out of the 62 doctors’ posts are lying vacant at the district headquarters hospital (DHH).
It is the main health service centre for people of nine blocks in the district. All critical patients rush to the DHH for treatment. About a thousand patients visit the hospital every day.
One medicine specialist post out of two has been lying vacant for several months. Baikuntha Nath Panda, the TB & CD doctor, has been given the additional charge to treat the patients. As a result, most of the time, patients fail to get proper treatment due to lack of medicine specialists.
Doctor positions at ENT, psychiatric, orthopaedic and pathology departments are yet to be filled, although the sanctioned posts in these department is said to be one each.
Similarly, two doctors’ posts in ophthalmology department, one out of two doctor posts in anaesthesia, two out of three general medical officer posts, and 27 out of 32 Leave, Training, Deputation Reserve Medical Officer (LTRMO) posts are lying vacant at the DHH, CDMO Baisnab Charan Sahu said.
Many patients lie on the hospital floor due to non-availability of beds. The surroundings of the hospital are an eyesore as they have become dumping grounds for medical waste. Many patients have turned those as open toilets. There are also allegations that some doctors of the hospital illegally attend to patients in private nursing homes.
If a patient comes in a serious condition, it is sure the DHH doctor would refer the case to SCB Medical College and Hospital. Patients needing eye, ENT, orthopaedic and psychiatric treatment mostly depend on private doctors or go to Cuttack for treatment.
According to Sahu, several contractual doctors have been engaged at the DHH. Except treating a patient, they do not attend to legal cases or post-mortem or provide injury report. If they get a better opportunity, they quit rendering the post they are holding vacant.
Another problem at the DHH is brokers. If a casual visitor goes to the hospital, he would come to know how brokers exploit the patients. It is alleged that some private nursing homes have an unholy nexus with the brokers. Even some ASHAs are accused of diverting pregnant women who come here for delivery to private nursing homes. Patients and locals allege though the authorities are in the know of all these things, no step has been taken to curb these malpractices.
Rural health in the district is also in bad shape as PHCs and CHCs do not have sufficient number of doctors. In this situation, patients depend on para-medical staff or quacks.
Collector Reghu G said though the administration has been bringing the medical staff shortage issue to the notice of the state health department, no steps have been taken. PNN
