Despite the State Government’s claim of having brought about improvement in the condition of the Government-run hospitals, a reality check gives an altogether different picture of things. The hospitals located in the rural parts of the district clearly indicate the apathy of the district authorities towards the patients who throng such hospitals from far-off places for treatment.
The ground reality at the rural health centres and hospitals is really grim as they are being run by ANMs and nurses. With no gynaecologists at hand, it cannot be ensured that the women who come for deliveries would get safe treatment. The expecting women who reach the primary health centres are referred to the district hospital which is found always overloaded with a single doctor attending to hundreds of patients. “This sorry state of things makes a mockery of the chief minister’s appeal to the expecting mothers to come to the state-run facilities for safe delivery,” says an observer.
Meenakshi from Jagjeeptpur village said she had a harrowing time at Bahadrabad-based community health centre during eight months of her pregnancy. The ultrasound machine that requires regular maintenance is not available for the patients and often the women who are prescribed ultrasound test have the test done at private laboratories. The pathologist being on leave for a long while, four to five samples are tested per day while nearly 25 patients who need diagnostic checking arrive on daily basis.
Cases like this are fairly common as the healthcare sector grapples with an acute shortage of doctors at the hospitals across Haridwar district. The residents of the biggest block of Haridwar, Bahadrabad have been suffering as medical facilities remain out of bounds for a long time.
The patients from Pathri village travel close to 30 kilometres to get simple pathological tests done. Besides, Dhanori village does not have a single hospital to cater to the population of over a lakh people.
The number of testing machines available at the pathological laboratory of CHC is not adequate. The population of Bahadrabad block is 3.5 lakh and for getting simple medical treatment, one is required to travel nearly 10 kms to reach the district hospital or take the alternative of some private health care centres. Notably, posts of 10 doctors have been approved, but for a long time the posts of physician, surgeon, Orthopaedic, Gynaecologist, Paediatrician and Radiologist have remained vacant. What is more, the community health centre at Bahadrabad has no permanent doctor since the day it was established. Doctors deputed on contractual basis take care of things.
The ordeal of the patients turns grimmer as the renewal of contracts takes a hell of time. In the proposed 10- bed CHC, only eight beds are available and the centre runs with nine permanent and four contractual nurses.
The pathological laboratory in the Bahadrabad health centre and civil hospital are in a shambles too.
Though facility for testing HIV, Malaria, urine and sputum is available four to five samples are tested in a day on account of the dearth of the adequate number of pathologists. However, the number of samples received is far from high. Even the simple tests like blood group and haemoglobin are not being carried out at the Bahadrabad centre.
Quizzed over the pathetic plight of the patients, a lab technician of the health centre Hemant Bohra said, “We do our best with available instruments and equipment. However, the load of testing samples being huge, we have written to the higher authorities to provide us with other testing equipment. However, nothing has come up so far.”
