BARIPADA: Even after three years have elapsed since the state government had made tall claims of setting up trauma care facilities in Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital (PRM MCH) here, no headway has been made on the proposal.
The Health and Family Welfare department had responded in a tweet to an article ‘Trauma Care non-existent in Baripada MCH’ published in these columns on September 7, 2018, stating that at least 10 trauma care facilities will start functioning in the State within six months. However, no step has so far been taken in this regard as the MCH still lacks infrastructure and manpower to set up the centre conceptualised in 2017.
As per reports, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under a scheme ‘Capacity Building for Developing Trauma Care Facilities on National Highways’ provides 100 per cent grants to set up trauma care centres to bring down the number of road accident deaths to 10 per cent by developing a pan-India trauma care network. The motive was no accident victim should be transported more than 50 km for treatment. In case of PRM MCH, its administrative building (the old DHH) is 5 km from NH-18 and the main building at Rangamatia is 2 km from the highway.
It is pertinent to mention that the NH-18 passes through Baripada town and the MCH receives around five or more accident victims every day at the surgery and orthopedics departments. Due to lack of a trauma centre, the accident victims are admitted to other departments. The more critical cases are referred to SCB medical college in Cuttack.
In 2017, the Ministry asked the officials concerned to do a feasibility study on opening a trauma care centre in any of the two campuses. The authority of the medical college replied that it was not possible to open the centre unless a provision of eight senior resident doctors, six ICUs with medical officers, four pharmacists and 18 staff nurses is made.
“PRM MCH has been operating from the DHH premises since 2017 due to lack of space in the old MCH building. In the absence of trauma care, such services are being managed in the general orthopaedic and casualty wards,” said Dr Ramesh Chandra Maharaja, associate professor of the orthopedics department.
Sources said, trauma facilities might come into force when the MCH becomes fully operational from Rangamatia next year.