Sonepur: Subarnapur district has received a raw deal in the appointment of doctors by the state government as the western district has only 45 doctors against the sanctioned 123 posts.
The issue assumes significance as the state government appointed 134 new doctors, Saturday in various hospitals of the state following the completion of their Post Graduation (PG) in medical science by the state Health and Family Welfare department.
However, Subarnapur district’s share is zero if we make a quick check of the list of newly appointed doctors. The state government has not appointed even a single doctor for the district sparking sharp resentment among the residents.
A new building of the district headquarters hospital was constructed at an expense of Rs100 crore at the district headquarters town Sonepur. The new seven-storey hospital building was inaugurated last February. However, healthcare service in the district is in tatters due to absence of the adequate number of doctors and nursing officers at the district headquarters hospital. Patients fail to avail proper healthcare services due to a lack of doctors.
Odisha has witnessed a change in government but the district has not seen any betterment in healthcare services. If this is the condition of the district headquarters hospital at Sonepur, then it is better not to speak of the condition of other hospitals in the district, residents alleged.
Reports said that the posts of Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) and Public Health Officer (PHO) have been lying vacant since the month of May. In this situation, one could very well assume the condition of healthcare services in the DHH at Sonepur. People visiting the hospital allege that the exterior of the hospital is shining but the interior is almost empty due to a lack of doctors and other healthcare personnel.
The DHH has 123 sanctioned posts of doctors including specialist doctors, senior consultants, senior medical officers and general duty medical officers (GDMOs). However, only 45 professionals are in the DHH. A leave training reserve medical officer (LTRMO) and senior specialist of anesthesia department are absent from their service for years but no action has been taken against them.
The DHH has 81 posts of LTRMO doctors but only 24 are working. The hospital has 125 posts of sanctioned nursing staff out of which 53 posts are lying vacant. Similarly, there are several vacancies in 34 sanctioned posts of laboratory testing assistants. The new building constructed in the hospital has a modern laboratory, operation theatre, outdoor ward, indoor wards of various departments, patient registration kiosk and a blood bank.
However, healthcare services are in shambles due to inadequate numbers of doctors and nursing officers. The hospital is daily visited by several accident victims, but the hospital has only two surgeons making it difficult to treat them.
Dr Durgadutta Dash is working as the superintendent of the DHH with the additional charge of the CDMO. He mostly remains busy with the administrative works of the hospital, which is why emergency patients have failed to avail proper treatment in the health facility. The posts of specialists in the medicine, ophthalmology, skin and venereal diseases, gynaecology and obstetrics departments are also lying vacant in the hospital.
The hospital also lacks an orthopaedician and persons with even minor fractures are often referred to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital (BBMCH) in Bolangir or to VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR). Residents have demanded the state government intervene and fill up the vacant posts in the DHH on a priority basis.
PNN