KOZHIKODE: Severe shortage of medical and para medical hands at the Perambra Taluk Hospital has crippled the hospital no end. Though it was upgraded from a community health centre five years ago, the Health Department has turned a blind eye to the needs of the hospital.
The hospital, which is one of the main heath centres in the rural district has an out-patient (OP) and an in-patient (IP) unit with a total of 85 beds. Also, it has a well-equipped gynaecology unit having a five-bed post operative ward. The hospital also boasts of a dialysis unit with 10 machines, medical lab and a pharmacy. Despite these facilities, the rural hospital is unable to realise its full potential for serving the public owing to the shortage of medical staff.
“The hospital has good infrastructure facilities and also surgical amenities and medical wards. The Hospital Management Committee (HMC) had ensured these facilities. However, most of these have not been utilised owing to the huge staff crisis,” said E Balakrishnan, an HMC member.
The hospital, which witnesses a heavy flow of patients throughout the day, has been facing shortage of doctors for sometime now. At least 1,200 persons arrive at the hospital from in and around Perambra seeking treatment every day. Only seven doctors, which include two temporary doctors appointed under the NRHM scheme, are available at the OP section. With the number of patients increasing every day, we are finding it difficult to manage the crowd with just seven doctors, another officer added.
“The sanctioned post of doctors is 27, including specialist doctors. But the department has not taken steps to fill the vacant post. The hospital has a well-equipped gynaecology unit with a labour room and a post-operative ward. However, there is only one gynaecologist, who is also serving at the Nadapuram Taluk Hospital, to attend to the patients. Despite repeated requests, the government has also failed to sanction the post of an anaesthetist. As these vacancies have not been filled, the gynaecology unit is not functioning in full swing,” said Balakrishnan.
The hospital is also facing a dearth of staff nurses and nursing assistants. Currently, only one staff nurse is available at the hospital against the sanctioned strength of eight. Also, the hospital has only one nursing assistant. The authorities need to fill at least 11 more posts.
What has crippled the hospital so far is the authorities failure to fill the post of a Medical Superintendent which has been lying vacant here for the past four years, the officer said.
“The Hospital Management Committee is taking all possible steps to tackle the issue. We are also trying to appoint more doctors under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scheme to solve the shortage of doctors. However, it is the responsibility of the government to intervene in this matter,” said Balakrishnan.
