Only four hours of surgery a week by a unit in RIMS
Patients rush to private hospitals for their lives
Source: Hueiyen News Service / N Sanajaoba Meetei
Imphal, May 15 2011:
The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences which is being promoted and developed at the level of AIIMS offers only four hours of surgery a week in a surgery unit, according to a report from the Department of Surgery, RIMS hospital.
The matter came to light when this newspaper enquired why the authority of the hospital set long dates for surgeries and why patients rush to private hospitals in such situations.
The surgery department of the hospitals has six surgery units viz � 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B.Each unit is directed to perform surgery only once in a week by the authority.
Thus surgeons could only perform surgery once in a week.
While the normal office hours of the department starts from 9 am, any surgery could only begin from 9.30 am due to the late arrival of the concerned staff.
Moreover anaesthesia is not provided after 1 pm which forces surgeons to stop surgical operations.
The most important reason for not doing surgery after 1 pm is that the doctors of the anaesthesia department refuse to administer anaesthesia to patients after 1 pm saying that they do not have time to wash their clothes and iron them for the next day, according to the source.
The source further says that every hospital in the world provides at least three days in a week to perform surgery in a unit.
Normal timings for regular surgery is also from 8 am to 4 pm in another hospitals.
The duration can also be extended in special cases.
The limited duration to perform surgery given to each unit in the RIMS often results in unwanted situations between hospital authorities and patient parties.
The four days which a unit gets to perform surgery in a month is also often shortened due to frequent bandhs and general strikes.
The Minimal Access Surgery (MAS) popularly known as Keyhole Surgery is being done in Unit 3A.It takes little time for the surgery to remove stones from the gall bladder and other similar types of surgery.
Gastroentrology surgery can also be done through MAS with the arrival if many new machines in the hospital.
Such surgeries normally take four hours, the source said.
Surgery in cases of stomach cancer, cancer of the pancreas and patients whose intestines have deteriorated after consuming acids need immediate surgery to save their lives.
Even after knowing these facts, doctors are unable to tell realy story to patients who are already prepared for surgery.
Normally they have to wait for another week.
This has caused repeated disappointment and inconveniences to both the patients and the doctors, the source said.
Usually a patient gets admitted only after a struggle of two weeks due to the increasing patient population and the poor policy of the hospital.
Even after getting admitted, they have to wait for another month to receive their schedule for surgery.
Frustrated with these situations, many patients go to private hospitals and hospitals in other states by spending a large amounts of money to save their lives.
Professor GS Moirangthem had submitted written requests to the RIMS Director and Medical Superintendent to increase the day of surgery given to each unit and keep separate operation theatres for Surgical Gastroentrology and Minimal Access Surgery which is both being done in unit 3A now.
Keeping in mind the frequent holidays, bandhs, blockades and general strikes, the authority -should increase the day and duration for surgery in order to meet the ever increasing requirement of the people of the state.
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