Reassess sanctioned strength of docs in regional hospital: Council

Our Correspondent

Chamba, December 21

Chamba District Progressive Council has requested Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to reassess the sanctioned strength of doctors keeping in view the present-day workload.

Through a letter submitted to the CM on Saturday, council president HR Puri said: The sanctioned strength of doctors in Chamba Regional Hospital is 22, out of which only 20 are in position. This strength of 22 doctors was fixed about 35 years ago keeping in view the workload of the hospitalat that time. After 35 years there has been phenomenal growth of patients, firstly because of population explosion and secondly because of health awareness.”

He said: “The number of patients in these 35 years has increased phenomenally, but there has not been any corresponding increase in the number of doctors.”

In his letter, he urged the government to increase the sanctioned posts of doctor.

From January to December this year, 1.82 lakh patients have been registered in the OPD and 40,000 in the emergency. In addition to this, approximately 25,000 are repeat cases. Not only this, the number of beds required at the hospital has also increased at least four times. As of now, there are 200 beds at the hospital, but the number of indoor patients at any given time is not less than 250. As a result, more than one patient is accommodated on a single bed.

He said: “Doctors have additional duties as well such as organising medical camps, court attendance, night duty, emergency duty, trainings, meetings etc and much time is frittered away on these duties.”

When the strength of 22 was fixed, the number of beds was less than 50. “Earlier, people depended on homemade medicines and did not rush to hospitals instantly. But now patients rush to hospitals for quality treatment. Keeping in view the rush, the government has sanctioned 100 more beds and the construction work of the building was in progress.

The situation of paramedical staff is not a shade better. Even minor cases of surgery have to head to the neighbouring state of Punjab, as regrettably the post of anaesthetist has been lying vacant for quite some time.

Consequently, the surgery work in the regional hospital Chamba has come to a grinding halt. The economy of the district is pitiable and deplorable and the poor cannot afford to have treatment outside the district, he wrote in his letter.

Meanwhile, medical superintendent of the district hospital Dr Ram Kamal has also authenticated the prevailing situation in the regional hospital, he added.