JANGAON: The absence of facilities and staff shortage at the Jangaon District Government Hospital has reportedly affected the ability of doctors and other healthcare staff to provide quality care to patients. In the meantime, private diagnostic centres in the town are capitalising on the gap created by the lack of essential equipment in the government hospital.
Recently, with the announcement of a government medical college in the district, the existing government hospital was converted into a teaching hospital. Sources said that for the past seven years, the CT scan room and other laboratories have been locked. Due to inadequate funding, severe staff shortages and a lack of essential equipment, the hospital is now on the brink of closure, the sources added.
Despite these conditions, poor patients from remote villages continue to seek treatment at the Jangaon District Government Hospital. With the CT scanner out of order, doctors are referring patients to private diagnostic centres.
Although it is expected to deliver high-level care as a teaching hospital, the Jangaon government hospital currently provides only basic first aid to accident victims. Patients are advised to go to hospitals in Hyderabad, including OGH and Gandhi, or other private facilities for emergency treatment. This entails a journey of at least 90 kilometres, taking around three hours. Ambulances with ventilator support charge approximately `15,000 for a one-way trip.
The government hospital treats between 600 and 700 outpatients daily and has inpatient services with 125 beds. However, given the lack of equipment and staff, its ability to provide effective treatment is severely compromised, the sources added.
Dr D Gopal Rao, principal of the Government Medical College, Jangaon, and in-charge of the District Government Hospital, told TNIE, “We have already submitted a report to the Telangana State Medical Infrastructure Development Corporation (TGMIDC) for the approval of funds to procure a new CT scanner for the hospital.”