MARGAO: The Primary Health Center at Balli has just one doctor on duty to cater to the 44,119 citizens of Cuncolim, Fatorpa, Barxem, Quital, Velim, Morpila and Veroda. 

Last week, Balli Sarpanch along with the other panchayat members held a press conference highlighting the lack of facilities and doctors at the hospital.

In response to their outburst, on Monday, Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar and Cuncolim MLA Cleofaso Dias visited the health center along with the panchayat members to sort out their issues. Cleofaso claimed that the misunderstanding between the Panchayat members and the PHC officials were sorted out and some issues which were raised are going to be resolved soon.

Herald visited the PHC on Tuesday morning to find long queues outside the OPD. Patients had to wait for nearly an hour for their turn. There was no inquiry desk. The security guard doubled up as a guide for patients.

Herald spoke to officials of the PHC and inquired about various facilities at the PHC. They informed Herald that there is one doctor in the trauma section and one doctor in OPD during office hours. A pediatrician comes once a week. Normal deliveries are done in the hospital. Only C-section and cases with complications are sent to Hospicio. This policy was followed even before the construction of the new health center. In addition they have a visiting ophthalmologist OPD and a dental OPD.

Accident cases are forwarded to Hospicio since the hospital is not equipped to handle such cases. There is no blood bank and the operation theatre is not fully functional. In July 2017, Health Minister Viswajeet Rane had stated in an LAQ that the operation theatres at Balli are not fully utilized due to a shortage of manpower and certain equipments. The situation has not improved since then.

The dialysis unit is operating in full swing however the X-Ray operator visits only thrice a week. However, the Panchayat members had demanded a full-time X-Ray operator and improvement in the dialysis unit.

The continuous power supply is one of the major issues at the PHC. The transformer which supplies power to the PHC also supplies to 400 houses in the neighbourhood. “Power fluctuates during peak hours”, informed the official. The tender for purchasing a generator has been floated. “Once the generator is installed, our power issues will be sorted,” the official said.

One of the issues raised by the Panchayat members was that drugs were not available for the public. However, the pharmacists at the PHC informed Herald that all the drugs supplied to the government are available and are prescribed by the doctors. Some of the few drugs that are not available are dengue and rabies drugs.

Herald inquired if the PHC has adequate clot-busting drugs to treat brain strokes within the golden hour. The pharmacist claimed that the hospital was equipped with Himax to treat brain strokes.

The officials disagreed with the claims by the Panchayat members that the doctors don’t do their job. “Doctors here treat around 200 patients per day and many times they don’t have time to have lunch,” said an official.

Shockingly, since last year 12 additional posts were proposed at Balli PHC however, only two posts were created by the government. According to Minister’s own admission in the LAQ, on an average 8-10 patients are admitted per day yet PHC, Balli is not fully functional due to shortage of manpower and certain equipments.