ZHRF highlights hospital staff shortage to Health Minister
Source: The Sangai Express
CCpur, August 18 2020:
The Zomi Human Rights Foundation has today sent an SOS to the State Health Minister urging him to plug the staff shortage of about 70 professionals at District Hospital Churachandpur and also to immediately install Covid-19 testing facilities here.
ZHRF in their distress message said the hospital has been largely understaffed, with about 70 posts - including 24 doctors lying vacant.
This shortfall, it added, has denied the hospital of its full potential to serve the public despite being manned by the best and most dedicated medical professionals till date.
Having attended 51,000 outpatients and about 5000 inpatients in the past six months, from January to June 2020, the Medical Officers, nurses and other staff are overworked, over utilized and exhausted, said ZHRF.
The shortfall needs to be urgently plugged, as the Government cannot be ignorant of the duty imposed by the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principle of State Policy of the Constitution.
Further, the hospital is preparing for adoption of various flagship programs launched under the National Health Mission like NCD, Palliative day care Chemotherapy, CCU, Dialysis etc, and as such adequate availability of doctors and nurses are indispensable for the normal functioning of the hospital, asserted the rights body.
Moreover, the foundation is startled to learn that a Covid 19 testing instrument/ facility is not installed in the District Hospital till date, it said.
Transportation of samples to VRDL facilities at Imphal for test and verification of Covid 19 cases is not always practicable and advisable as it involves risk of contamination and accidents.
Now that the status of a patient is mandatorily required to be confirmed before admission to the hospital, waiting for the result tested at VRDL and other facilities will not serve the purpose for having a hospital.
The Covid-19 test with Rapid Antigen Test needs a confirmation by the RT PCR Test which is presently not available at the District Hospital.
This is a case of serious concern, it said.
Having taken these facts at hand, the foundation has deemed it necessary to flag the Health Minister and send him an SOS to immediately fill the vacant sanctioned posts, and to also install Covid testing facility at the hospital.
Meanwhile, in a development that is only set to aggravate the concerns raised by the foundation, a circular issued by the Medical Superintendent today said her office highly regrets that Krishna Diagnostic Pvt Ltd has closed down its operations in the hospital today without giving any prior information to the hospital authority.
The private lab is engaged to conduct all 53 essential laboratory tests in the hospital since July 28, 2018 as per the MoU it entered with State Health Mission under the Free Diagnostic Initiative.
As such closure of the private lab has greatly affected the routine investigation at the hospital for both OPD and IPD patients, the Medical Superintendent said seeking an explanation.