Sambalpur: Shortage of doctors in the district, 10 hospitals are running without a doctor
Sambalpur: There is a shortage of doctors in the district. In Sambalpur, a major district of Western Odisha and known as the hub of health services, the picture of the health department has now come to light. In the district, 50 percent hospitals are lying vacant and patients are facing the problem of non-availability of doctors. On the other hand, the District Health Department admits that more than half of the doctors working in rural areas are coming by their wish.
The important issue is that the doctor crisis in district is still going on and there is no trace of 6 doctors for 2 years. Some doctor has not joined the work after posting and some doctor has no visitation after transfer which has made the doctor crisis situation more alarming in the district.
It has been said that while the district health department is accepting this, the government is not taking any action in this regard. This doctor is assigned to the primary health center. Among them, 130 hospitals have been vacant for more than 3 years. Out of 146 doctors on duty, 6 doctors are missing. Out of the remaining 140 doctors, many doctors working in rural areas only come to the hospital one day a week and other times work in their own clinics, according to the sources of the district health department. Out of the 6 doctors who are missing, 2 are from the district hospital, 2 are from Redhakhol sub-district hospital, one is from Kuchinda sub-district hospital and one is from Charmal CHC. 10 out of 50 hospitals of district hospital have doctors. 7 doctors out of 18 hospitals are working in Redhakhol sub-district hospital while 10 out of 18 doctors are working in Kuchinda sub-district hospital. Similarly, while 10 to 6 posts of CHC Hirakud are vacant, all the 4 working doctors are on contract.
Similarly, according to the data obtained from the Jilna Health Department of CHC Gobindpur, the total number of hospitals in Sambalpur district is 276. District Head Hospital, 2 Sub-District Hospitals, 9 Community Health Centers (CHC), 34 Primary Health Centers (PHC) and 8 Urban Areas 9 of 11, 4 of 11 of Debipalli, 6 of 11 of Themra, 7 of Jujumura, all 7 of Hatibari Health Center, 8 of 11 of Loida, 7 of Charmal, 8 of Naktideul, 10 of Gardpos, 8 of Kuntra, 8 of Fashimal are lying vacant. Similarly, Meghpal, Keshapali, Kadeligarh, Mehulpali, Kusumi and Gochra primary health centers do not have a single doctor. ‘
According to a report of the health department, while the hospitals are vacant, especially in the rural health centers, as many as there are doctors working, three of the hospitals have regular doctors, while the others have random doctors. On the other hand, dentists are treating all patients in 7 hospitals. As a result, rural hospitals remain referral centers only, putting all the pressure on district head hospitals.
