Cuttack: Doctors at the casualty ward of Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here have sought adequate infrastructure and security arrangements from authorities of the premium healthcare institute.
In a meeting held here recently, chaired by SCBMCH superintendent Prasanna Kumar Debata, the doctors put forth the demands.
Among others, casualty nodal officer Atanu Mohanty, administrative officer Kalpataru Behera, casualty medical officers (CMOs) and SCBMCH emergency officer Bhubanananda Maharana attended the meeting.
The CMOs have claimed that the casualty ward has been facing shortage of health staff and infrastructure for the last several years for which the doctors have to face the ire of the attendants and relatives of critically ill patients. Several incidents of violence have also been reported because of the issue.
“At present, the casualty ward has only 44 beds. However, at least 350 patients are admitted to the ward on a daily basis. We are facing a lot of problems due to inadequate infrastructure,” said CMO JP Biswal.
According to Biswal, the hospital authorities have engaged only four CMOs at the casualty ward to treat several hundred patients. The CMOs attend patients on a shift basis. “The hospital authorities had asked 14 senior resident doctors from Medicine, Surgery and Orthopedic departments to attend patients admitted to the casualty ward. However, the resident doctors usually skip their responsibilities. Some postgraduate students often treat needy people at casualty,” Biswal added.
The CMO also claimed that the casualty ward has only eight dressers to attend hundreds of mishap victims.
It is learnt that SCBMCH superintendent has assured the doctors to look into the issues raised by them.
Hospital emergency officer said the state government have appointed six more doctors at the casualty ward and taken steps to install a digital X-ray machine. “Four new doctors would start attending patients at the casualty ward from November 30,” he added.