3 doctors for hundreds of patients

There are only three doctors to attend to hundreds of patients who swarm the hospital for treatment. The hospital which has a staff shortage even fails to provide safe drinking water to the patients. No, this is not any primary health centre but a taluk-level Government Hospital in Bagepalli.

Though many years have passed and many elected representatives have changed, the plight of the hospital has not changed.

Recently, the 30-bed hospital was upgraded to 100-bed facility. However, there is no improvement in the basic amenities or any increase in the number of medical staff.

On an average 600 to 800 out patients and 50 to 60 in patients visit the hospital every day excluding people injured in dog bite, accidents and new mothers. However, due to staff shortage, providing quality treatment or proper maintenance of the hospital has become a difficult task.

Pediatrician Dr Ravindra said the situation turned worse when accident or snake bite cases arrived in the hospital. Essential and life saving drugs are not being supplied to the patients during emergencies like accidents and snake bite cases due to staff shortage, said Ramesh who added that there was no one to even console or control the angry relatives of the patients.

Some of the patients have also been made to sleep on the floor in the absence of beds, he added.

The hospital also lacks doctors to treat various diseases including gynaecological problems, Ravindra said. Though the hospital requires the services of 14 doctors, there are only three doctors tending to patients. In order to understand the disease one has to interact with the patients in detail. However, due to work pressure and increasing number of patients, we are not able to do this, he added.

It is many days since the hospital ambulance has broken down. The ambulances of the private organisations and those provided under Janani Suraksha scheme are being used to ferry the patients, other doctors and medical staff said.

Drinking water crisis is not new to Kolar-Chikkaballapur districts. However, authorities concerned have not bothered to provide drinking water facility even to the hospital. The patients and doctors are forced to purchase the bottled water from the nearby shops, patients said. Though a borewell has been sunk in the hospital premises, the borewell has gone dry, they added.

Parking

In the absence of designated parking space in the hospital, most of the vehicles are parked in front of the main gate congesting the area. As a result movement of patients and public have been hindered leading to inconvenience.