The National human Rights Commission (NHRC) has asked the Health Secretary of Odisha to act over the precarious condition of the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital (DHH).
Acting on the petition filed by activist Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC passed the order.
Finding the condition of the Bhadrak DHH very pathetic and the human rights of the patients violated by way of deprivation of space and other basic amenities, the petitioner drew the attention of the NHRC.
The fate of multispecialty model hospital in Bhadrak district has been buried under files, leaving locals to fend for themselves. Scanty infrastructure and unhygienic conditions in the DHH continues to haunt the patients. Though the issues have been thrashed out in the District Council, Vigilance Monitoring and District Planning Board meetings, yet it has not yielded any result. The administration fails to allocate land for a project that is supposed to benefit more than 15 lakh people. No step has been taken to shift the hospital from the present congested place to a traffic-free location, Tripathy alleged.
The wards in the hospital are stinking due to lack of proper sanitation. The sole operation theatre is lacking infrastructure and equipment. A portion of the hospital campus has been encroached upon. Though the hospital is the only hope for serious patients of the district, yet it lacks departments like Neurology, Psychiatry and ENT, Tripathy contended.
Regarding management of hospital waste materials, 60 per cent of hazardous waste, generated by the hospital, is indiscriminately dumped in drains and along roads. While there is no proper mortuary, the post mortem house is in a dilapidated condition. The hospital lacks all these due to the gross negligence of the Health Department, the petitioner cited.
There are no doctors in the ENT while the District Malaria Officer and District leprosy Officer posts have been lying vacant for the last 15 months. Specialist posts are lying vacant and they are being managed by Junior Class I doctors. Trauma care unit is not functioning since 2014 as there are no doctors. Infrastructure wise, there are not enough beds in the DHH and the patients can be seen lying on the floor in every ward. The indoor has only 223 beds but on any given day, 400 patients are admitted. This amounts to serious violation of human rights of the Patients, Tripathy further alleged.
He requested the NHRC to direct the Health Secretary to set up a multi-specialty model hospital in Bhadrak, make the trauma care centre functional, open life saving units and ensure that patients basic human rights are not violated.
Appreciating the gravity of the issue the NHRC directed the State Health Department to act within eight weeks.