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Patients suffer due to lack of basic amenities at PHCs
The Primary Health Centres PHCs, located at Mettuguda, Addagutta and Sitaphalmandi, were set up by the government essentially to provide improved medical care to the poor However, many of them lack basic facilities As a result, patients, including women and those who come from nearby slums, face severe hardships
Secunderabad: The Primary Health Centres (PHCs), located at Mettuguda, Addagutta and Sitaphalmandi, were set up by the government essentially to provide improved medical care to the poor. However, many of them lack basic facilities. As a result, patients, including women and those who come from nearby slums, face severe hardships. There are no chairs or benches for pregnant women to sit. There are no separate rooms for conducting diagnostic tests. Many PHCs also lack the basic equipment required to conduct tests. Besides, there is no supply of the required medicines. The doctors at PHCs are finding it difficult many a time to find the nature of the disease afflicting patients. Consequently, many patients who come to PHCs are forced to go to Gandhi Hospital for tests. The PHCs, located in rented buildings, are also not able to extend adequate facilities to the needy. They are more or less confined to providing primary care.
However, the treatment is good at many PHCs. Fans in PHCs don’t work. Even drinking water is not available for the staff, and so is the case with toilets at some places. With no toilet rooms, pregnant women seeking to undergo urine tests have to go back home to collect their urine. The PHCs that cover many slum areas of Secunderabad conduct medical tests for hundreds of pregnant women every Monday and Friday. Expectant mothers also make a beeline at the centres on other days during the week. The centres offer vaccination to children every Wednesday, attracting about 200 people. Vaccines to be given to children are not available on some days.
Sivaram Yadav of Mettuguda told The Hans India, “The PHCs lack basic facilities and the absence of hygiene is clearly evident at the PHCs. There are no chairs and the fans don’t work. The staff doesn’t come on time. Patients are forced to go to Gandhi hospital.” He recalls holding dharnas to press the demand for providing better facilities at PHCs. Yadav flayed the officials for taking half-hearted measures. “In most cases the situation is back to square one. At least now, improved facilities and tools to determine diseases should be immediately provided,” he added.
In response, senior Public Health Officer Dr Rajesree told THI that the services in PHCs are being improved. Chairs, fans and drinking water are being made available, she said, and admitted that most patients who visit between 11.00 am and 1.00 pm face hardships. Suitable plans to meet the extra rush on Wednesdays and Fridays are being resolved. Better facilities would be given to patients, besides expectant mothers. Efforts would be made to increase the number of fans at PHCs, she assured.
BY Ramesh Valmiki
