Activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a demonstration in front of the Government General Hospital demanding posting of more doctors, nurses and support staff, adequate stock of life saving drugs and modernisation of equipment like CT scan machine and ventilator.
The CPM workers, led by senior leader T Murugan and State unit secretary V Perumal, staged a rally along Ga-
ndhi Street and Nehru Street before reaching the GH.
Later, Perumal told Express that the lack of adequate staff and shortage of medicines and equipment have brought the GH to the level of a PHC.
He pointed out that the Out Patient Department (ODP) of the GH, where over 2,000 people were being attended to daily, lacks enough doctors. At night, there are no senior doctors posted at the OPD, he claimed.
The CT scan was under repair and the service agency was not attending to the repairs as they were yet to be paid their service charges, he said. The ventilator machines are also under repair and the lone machine available is being used in the ICU, he claimed.
Charging that the GH is woefully short of life saving drugs, he said the government was not allotting funds for the hospital for procuring drugs and for modernising the life saving machines.
Saying that the government was ignoring the GH, where the poorer sections of society approach for medical treatment, he alleged that the government was encouraging the people to get treatment in private hospitals.