BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha government claims to have set up trauma care facilities with advanced medical equipment in all district headquarters, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has highlighted the lack of such support in several districts leading to stress on tertiary care centres and suffering of patients.
Of the seven test-checked district headquarters hospitals (DHHs), the 2022-23 audit found non-availability of trauma care centres (TCCs) in Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Puri, for which patients requiring intensive medical services had to be referred to tertiary care/trauma centres located at distant places.
As per the CAG report tabled in the Assembly recently, the critical patients could not be provided required treatment within the golden hour. The TCCs available in three of the test-checked DHHs at Bhadrak, Dhenkanal and Sundargarh had severe deficiencies in their functioning.
The ICU at Bhadrak TCC was not functional due to the absence of anaesthetists and major cases were being referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) at Cuttack, which is about 100 km from Bhadrak, thereby risking the lives of the victims. Equipment such as ventilators, ECG and ultrasound machines, valued at around `60.86 lakh, were lying idle due to improper functioning of the TCC.
Similarly, no dedicated TCC was available in Sundargarh and Dhenkanal DHHs. Only one trauma stabilisation unit was present in Dhenkanal with three HDU beds and there was no ICU facility. Five ventilators, received in February 2021 from the state medical corporation, were lying idle in the storeroom of the hospital. Dedicated human resources for functioning of the TCC were also not provisioned, the audit found.
Highlighting that the non-availability of TCCs coupled with inefficient accident and emergency services put the life of accident victims at stake, the CAG report said 29,720 people in the state lost their lives in road accidents during 2016-2021. The death rate (46) per 100 accidents in the state was also higher than the national average of 39.
The TCCs in three other DHHs also lacked infrastructure and manpower. Dedicated TCC for Pandit Raghunath Murmu MCH, Baripada had not been created and equipment worth `3.04 crore were lying idle.
None of the seven test-checked DHHs had dedicated emergency services equipped with mobile X-ray/laboratory services, OT facilities, emergency beds and separate manpower, the CAG stated.
Audit findings
Audit finds non-availability of TCCs in Kandhamal, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Puri
ICU at Bhadrak TCC not functional due to absence of anaesthetists
No dedicated TCC available in Sundargarh and Dhenkanal DHHs
TCCs in three other DHHs also lacked infrastructure and manpower
None of the seven test-checked DHHs had dedicated emergency services