Another instance of how healthcare services in the State have degraded has been reported from Mahakalapada in Kendrapada district where patients are getting treatment under a tree.
There was no bed, fan and toilet with the patients lying on the ground and saline bottles hung on the tree branches. Only an Ayush doctor was attending the patients. This was reported from the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Babar in Gogua panchayat under Mahakalapada block.
And Kendrapada district in the coastal region is considered to be one of the State’s developed areas.
According to reports, among the patients registered at the PHC on Saturday, six were given saline under the tree. Out of them four identified as Kamala Barik (40) of lanjuda village, Kanchan Rout (21) of Itakhandia, Rushia Barik (45) Ramachandrapur and Sasmita Samal (19) of Sanarahama were suffering from dysentery. Another two patients, Kanchan Panda (80) and Sebati Samal (15), were administered the saline for typhoid and another ailment, respectively.
As there was no fan and bed in the PHC, the patients were brought under the tree for treatment. This drew sharp reaction among locals.
Over 30,000 people of eight gram panchayats of Mahakalpada block depend on the PHC, which was established in 1990. On an average, over 50 patients use to come to the hospital every day. However, lack of infrastructure and medical staffs and doctors has become a big problem in providing healthcare to the villagers.
As per the rule, the hospital should have an MBBS doctor, an Ayush doctor and a pharmacist. However, the MBBS doctor’s post has been lying vacant for three months after the incumbent doctor was shifted to the Kanika Community Health Centre (CHC) on deputation. As the Ayush docor is not entitled to prescribe allopathic medicines, the patients are at the receiving end. The patients have been undergoing treatment under the tree since two months, locals said.