BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State government has been pushing hard to develop Capital Hospital as a Post Graduate Institute of Medical Science and Research on the model of PGI Chandigarh, the shortage of specialists continues to haunt the premier healthcare facility in the city.
Patients are made to wait for months together for endoscopy and laparoscopic surgeries at the hospital as assistant professors from SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack deployed for super specialist OPD services here are not attending duty on fixed dates. The State government had asked the SCB MCH to send assistant professors of the Neurology department and general and laparoscopic surgeons two days a week regularly to tackle the rush of patients in the Capital.
The Superintendent of SCB MCH had accordingly deployed assistant professors on a rotation basis to attend the Super Specialty OPD Service of Neurology every Monday and to perform Endoscopic procedures and laparoscopic surgeries on Thursday. Sources said after extending the OPD services for a few weeks, the assistant professors are not attending their duty regularly leading to a lot of convenience for patients waiting for treatment.
The Neurology department is highly overloaded with patients on fixed dates as the doctor assigned for the duty comes once a week. Every Monday there is chaos inside the hospital for neurology treatment.
“The booking sometimes goes beyond 300 on a day for neurology consultation. The demand for neurology treatment is so much that the security guards sell tickets for extra bucks and patients do not mind paying to get treatment,” said sources. With the absence of assistant professors affecting the OPD services, Capital Hospital Director Dr Laxmidhar Sahoo has urged the Superintendent of SCB MCH to ensure that the deployed doctors visit the hospital on fixed dates.
Dr Sahoo said critically ill patients suffering from neurology-related complications are accustomed to attending Super Specialty OPD in Capital Hospital. Many patients are also waiting for general and laparoscopic surgeries after endoscopy investigation.“We have been facing a lot of difficulties in managing patients who are long being listed for treatment due to absence of deployed doctors. Patients will suffer if deployment is not ensured,” he added.