Khurda: Pregnant women are being forced to bribe the doctors to get healthcare facilities at the district headquarters hospital (DHH) here.
Some doctors at the DHH often advise pregnant women to visit a few private nursing homes in the town here to get better healthcare, sources said.
According to sources, a well-oiled racket has been working in the town here to divert pregnant women and other patients from the DHH to some private nursing homes. A few doctors of the DHH, middlemen, private nursing home owners and media people are involved in the racket that works to divert patients to private hospitals. “The racket has the backing of an influential politician of the town,” said a source.
It is learnt that many pregnant women are being shifted to hospitals in cities like Cuttack and Bhubaneswar due to poor healthcare at the DHH.
It is worth mentioning here that the Centre and state government have launched several schemes to provide free healthcare and drugs to pregnant and lactating mothers and newborns.
However, some unscrupulous doctors at the DHH often demand bribes from pregnant and lactating women to provide them healthcare facilities.
“Doctors at the DHH usually neglect pregnant women who are unable to pay the bribe. We had to bribe a doctor to get proper treatment to my daughter-in-law,” said Ramachandra Pradhan of Chilika area.
Echoing the same, Uddhab Sahu of Begunia said, “One cannot get proper healthcare facilities at the DHH without paying bribes to the doctors. The doctors even do not spare pregnant and lactating women.”
Sandhya Nayak of Banpur, meanwhile, claimed that she had been admitted to the DHH with labour pain a few days ago. The doctors initially advised her to go to some private hospitals for better treatment. “They did not attend me when my family refused to shift me to any private hospital. Eventually, I was shifted to a private hospital to deliver the baby,” she added.