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Government hospitals: Overcrowded and understaffed
The tall promises of the government to provide medical services through government hospitals has been reduced to a farce. Though the number of patients has been increasing over 20 times, the government has not been recruiting enough doctors and nurses across the state.
Visakhapatnam: The tall promises of the government to provide medical services through government hospitals has been reduced to a farce. Though the number of patients has been increasing over 20 times, the government has not been recruiting enough doctors and nurses across the state.
Highlights:
- Though the number of patients has been increasing over 20 times, the government has not been recruiting enough doctors and nurses across the state
- Almost every month, AP Government Doctors Association and AP Government Nurses Association have been urging the govt for sanction of more posts according to the increased patients number, but in vain
In fact, the government has not been reviewing and increasing the medical posts for the past two and half decades. It is not surprising that one doctor has not been spending more than three minutes to check one patient in all the government hospitals across the state.
Due to the lack of the adequate number of doctors and nurses in all the district headquarter hospitals each patient and his attendants are waiting more than six hours to get their share of time in outpatient wings. Almost every month, Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association and (APGDA) and Andhra Pradesh Government Nurses Association (APGNA) have been urging the government for sanction of more posts according to the increased patients number, but in vain.
King George Hospital (KGH) which is almost a 1,700-bed hospital with 24 departments, 845 staff nurses and 170 head nurses are required to serve the patients. But, today only 384 staff nurses and 48 head nurses are working in KGH which is a main hospital for six districts in the state.
“Not only in KGH, a similar situation been prevailing in all the government hospitals. We have already started agitation in a phased manner. We are attending to the duties wearing black badges.
Later, we will go for relay hunger strikes. Even then if the government does not come down, there is no way but to go for an indefinite strike,” State President of AP Government Nurses Association B Bhagya Lakshmi told The Hans India. The Association has been gearing up with all the district wings to intensify the agitation.
As the number of patients increasing in number of times every day, the nurses have been facing severe stress to attend the patients. With this, the monitoring officials are not giving leaves to the nurses. Unless it is an emergency situation, nurses are not getting leaves in any government hospitals.
“Yes, we are much aware about the importance of our services. But, we have also families and other issues to attend. As a part of the services, we have to take the patients for various tests. During in the nights, each nurse has been facing tough times to take care of the patients to the tests. One can imagine how a single nurse attends the needs of over 40 patients, a government nurse lamented.
The state government increased the retirement age of the super specialty doctors to 63. But, the government has not been increasing the MBBS doctors retirement age. Terming the MCI guidelines, the government has been saying that the teaching doctors’ strength is enough in all the teaching hospitals. But, the fact is, the doctors are not only teaching but attending to thousands of patients both in in and out patient wings.
“The APGDA has demanding government to increase doctors posts on population basis. Actually these posts were created three decades ago depending on the then population. Even, the retirement age was enhanced to 63 years only for the super specialty doctors and not for the MBBS doctors.
For AYUSH doctors retirement age also increased to 63, not for MBBS doctors. In Visakhapatnam there are 417 doctors working in KGH and attached hospitals including ENT, VGH, Psychiatry, TB and Regional Eye Hospital.
The strength as per MCI is okay for teaching. What about our services to the thousands of patients?,” lamented by Dr.Pidakala Shyam Sundar, State Secretary General, AP Government Doctors Association.
By VKL GAYATRI
