Puri: Healthcare facilities in the Holy City are in complete disarray as the district headquarters hospital (DHH) and several other hospitals are suffering from myriad problems including crunch in manpower and infrastructure.
The DHH, Chandan Hazuri Paediatric Hospital, Kamala Devi Maternity Hospital, a few community health centres (CHCs) and an Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in the city here are yet to get the required number of doctors and heath staff. Besides, these hospitals have been facing shortage of equipment and basic infrastructure since last several years, sources said.
Social activist Prasanna Kumar Dash recently approached Puri district Collector Balwant Singh seeking his intervention to improve healthcare facilities in the city.
As per the complaint, the outpatient department (OPD) of the DHH is not functioning properly. Patients are being forced to wait for long hours to consult doctors. Unhygienic atmosphere prevails in most of the wards of the DHH in the absence of proper sanitation.
Besides, patients depend on private diagnostic centres for various tests. The pathological laboratory and x-ray centre at the DHH have failed to serve the patients, said the complaint.
Moreover, some doctors and middlemen often divert patients from the DHH to some private hospitals in the city.
According to the complaint, a Maternity and Childcare Hospital (MCH), set up at the DHH during the Nabakalebara festival of Srimandir deities in 2015, has failed to meet the objectives. Sanitation issues and shortage of drinking water at the MCH have been causing inconvenience for the patients.
Moreover, the elevator at MCH often develops technical glitches. As a result, pregnant women usually have to take the staircase to reach various floors of the seven-storey building, added the complaint.
In his complaint, Dash has claimed that the DHH authorities have failed to provide free drugs to patients under the Niramaya Scheme of the state government. “The Niramaya centre at the DHH does not have adequate drugs. The patients usually purchase drugs from private chemists. The hospital authorities have failed to provide free healthcare to pregnant women. The intensive care units (ICUs) at the DHH are not functioning properly,” Dash said.
Dash also alleged that healthcare facilities at the IDH and other CHCs in the city have been deteriorating day-bay-day in the absence of proper attention from the Health department. “The Rogi Kalyan Samiti and District Health Committee usually take various decisions to improve healthcare at the DHH and other hospitals in the city. However, the authorities concerned do not implement the decisions,” Das said.
When contacted, Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Amarendra Mohanty said they have raised the issue of doctor shortage at the DHH and other hospitals before the Health and Family Welfare department. “We are trying our best to improve healthcare and sanitation facilities at the DHH,” Mohanty added.
