Angul: Angul district headquarters hospital (DHH) has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately. That the equipment and facilities installed for patients and visitors are not being taken care of properly only adds to the issue. The cold drinking water facility here being a case in point.
There are three cold drinking water facilities at this DHH. While two of them are in the hospital premises, the other one is at maternity and pediatric ward.
The two machines on the hospital premises are no longer dispensing cold water as their freezers are said to be out of order. Patients and visitors are getting hot water coming directly from the overhead plastic tank.
“People seek cold water to quench their thirst these hot summer days. However, we have no option but to use the hot water from the taps since the hospital authorities are not showing any interest to repair the two cold drinking water machines,” complained an attendant to a patient admitted here.
The one at maternity and pediatric ward has been set up by spending money from district mineral fund. But all the three taps of this machine are missing.
Holding the hospital authorities squarely responsible, some visitors alleged that the callousness of the authority has made the matter worse. They wanted to know why the hospital authorities are not repairing the facilities. They further accused the hospital authorities of neglecting patients.
At the same time, water is also misused here. More often than not, the staff in charge of operating switches to fill the tank fixed atop the CDMO’s office forgets to turn off the switch leading to overflow of water – at times flowing on the ground for hours together.
When contacted, CDMO in-charge Dr Pratap Kumar Behera said, “I will look into the matter personally. Clarification will be sought from the concerned staff for his dereliction of duty. Also, I will take steps to get the freezers of the cold drinking water units repaired.”
PNN