BALANGIR: PATIENTS from far off places visiting the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) suffer a lot as the doctors continue to remain absent. Most of the specialist doctors don’t come to the DHH during duty hours as they make quick bucks from private practice. Resentment is brewing among the people over unauthorised absence of doctors.
They alleged that doctors in the DHH are coming to the hospital late and are going away after some time. As a result, patients and their attendants coming from far off places and kept waiting at the OPD are a harassed lot, locals said.
Sources said out of 26 doctors at the DHH, only two junior doctors attend to indoor patients and run the OPD. Though there is a provision to run the Specialist OPD from 7 am to 11 am and from 4 pm to 6 pm, doctors normally come between 9.30 am and 10 am and leave at around 11.45 am. There are even cases of people going to the OPD three to four times to get their health check-up done, but to no avail, said Thabir Singh Dharua, a resident of Badabanki village in Turekela block.
The hospital has 21 specialists and eight junior doctors. Of 21 specialists, three each in medicine, paediatric, gynaecology and eye departments, two each in skin and orthopaedic, one each in TB and chest, surgery, dental and anastasia and one blood bank officer are available. This apart, 26 regular staff nurse, 25 nursing support staff under National Health Mission (NHM) and seven pharmacists have been engaged. While the hospital has 184 beds, around 230 patients are being accommodated and more than 550 people visit the OPD daily.
Demanding immediate intervention of the district administration over the issue, villagers from Khaprakhol and Muribahal blocks recently met Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Rabi Narayan Tripathy and apprised him about the problems.
When contacted, Tripathy said the district administration will soon instruct all the doctors to come to hospital on time and attend to patients and OPD as per schedule.