Angul: Despite strict instructions of 5T secretary to give patients free medicines under Niramaya scheme and implementation of ‘Mo Sarkar initiative’ to bring transparency to government hospitals, several patients at Angul district headquarters hospital here are being asked to purchase medicine from outside shops. A similar case came to fore after a patient’s mother created ruckus inside the hospital Thursday over the issue.
According to a source, Basishta Swain (21) of Golabandh area under Banarpal block is undergoing treatment at the DHH. He was admitted to the hospital two days ago. Being a sickle cell patient, he visits the DHH thrice a month.
Basishta had been denied free medicine at the hospital from the day of his admission. His widowed mother Damayanti Swain had been purchasing medicine from outside. Thursday she ran out of money to buy medicines. Finding no other way, she approached some hospital staff and requested them to help her with getting free medicines. Her request was rudely turned down and she was asked to go away and approach the chief district medical officer.
The hospital authorities, however, budged only after Damayanti told them to approach the collector against them and contacted the ADMO (medical) over the issue. Hospital staff bought her medicines from outside shops, but at hospital’s cost.
When contacted, CDMO Dr Amarendranath Mohanty said he was aware about the incident. “The sickle cell patient is getting his medicine free of cost. If a certain prescribed medicine is not available with us, we cannot ask the patient to get it from outside. Rather, we will give it to him after buying it from outside,” he said, adding that, he had been intimated by the doctors that Thursday they had bought three such medicines from outside.
PNN