Ailing govt hospitals require urgent nursing

​Vijayawada: Government hospitals seem to be badly in need of nursing, thanks to acute shortage of para-medical staff. This shortage has been forcing patients to seek services at corporate hospitals.

The plight of V Suryalakshmi, a worker in a play school, is a case in point. When she took her daughter, suffering from appendicitis to a local government hospital for treatment, she could not get much attention forcing her to go to a private clinic.

Treatment in the private hospital cost her Rs 4,000. This she borrowed from lenders. The case of Vijayalakshmi replicates scores of patients across the state.

District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO) R Nagamalleswari said nearly 860 cases of viral fever cases have been recorded this year till date in Krishna district alone.

Over 350 of them tested positive for dengue and over 400 with malaria. Government hospitals witnessed migration of patients to private hospitals during this period as there hardly anyone to attend them.

There is an acute shortage of nursing staff. Almost 60 per cent of the nursing posts are vacant in government hospitals in Krishna district, according to official sources. “The situation is similar all over the state,” said a senior health department official on condition of anonymity.

The nursing staff working in the Government General Hospital, Vijayawada, has gradually decreased and fell below the 100-mark. As per the guidelines of the Medical Council of India (MCI), there shall be one nurse for every five patients. The hospital officials have sent a request to the principal secretary of Medical and Health department for maintaining the patient-nurse ratio, but the situation still remains the same.

The private hospitals are allegedly taking advantage of exodus and poor infrastructure facilities in government hospitals by resorting to fleecing gullible patients. Inquiries revealed that doctors in private hospitals are reportedly collecting up to Rs 500 as consultation fee from each patient.

The two government hospitals in Vijayawada together have around 1,300 beds with just 96 nursing staff. “The Intensive Care Units (ICU), Acute Medical Care Units (AMCU) and a few other units require experienced staff and other nurses in big number. It has become a tough time to handle a large number of patients with a meagre number of nurses,” said Vijaya Kumari, head nurse of GGH.

Apart from charging huge amounts, the private hospitals are accused of resorting to unethical practices by forcing patients to undergo diagnostic tests indiscriminately in cases which actually do not require, said Jana Vignana Vedika leader Suresh. He highlighted the need for a regulatory mechanism to rein in the private nursing homes.

The JVV leader stressed on implementation of Dr Srinath Reddy committee recommendations which favoured to evolve a regulatory mechanism to ensure healthcare is affordable for all sections and to act tough against private hospitals resorting to unethical practices.

By: Kiranmai Tutika