The state-of-the-art North Goa District Hospital at Peddem Mapusa caters to thousands of patients on a daily basis. This hospital not only handles patients from Bardez taluka but also the other parts of the North Goa. The critically ill patients from community health centres are referred here for further treatment.
In cases of severe complications, the North Goa district hospital refers patients to the Goa Medical College and Hospital at Bambolim for further treatment. Equipped with basic and technical facilities, at times patients directly prefer the district hospital to community or primary health centres.
The hospital is faced with a host of problems such as the flow of sewage water from the sewerage chambers in the hospital parking area. The flow of sewage water has been haunting the hospital authorities since 2016 but till date no action has been taken.
Sources said that the water from the sewerage chambers gets accumulated in the parking area which has turned into a mosquito breeding ground. The sewage stink has been causing inconvenience to the patients as well as people visiting the hospital. This problem had been solved temporary by availing the services of soil tankers but a permanent solution remains a distant dream.
Sources said that there is no permanent solution to this problem till the provision for a proper sewerage tanks (Jirwan) is made.
Another problem is that the food served in the canteen is of poor quality. The hospital has two canteens, one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor. The patients, visitors and doctors are complaining that poor quality food is being served in these canteens. Sources said that people and doctors have even stopped visiting these canteens.
Another major problem the hospital is faced with is staff crunch as orthopaedic Dr Ryan has quit. He used to handle around thirty patients per day. Since his departure, Dr Vikas is handling the workload.
The hospital has two lifts but on most occasions these lifts are reported to have developed technical snags. Patients are reported to have been trapped inside the lift for hours. Patients, visitors and doctors prefer using the staircase instead of the lifts since there could be a breakdown anytime.
The visiting committee has been inactive since many months. No meetings have been held by the committee to discuss the problems pertaining to the hospital functioning.
Speaking to Herald, North Goa District Hospital (Asilo) Medical Superintendent Dr Geeta Kakodkar said, “There were a lot of problems few months ago, but now we are solving them one-by-one. Some have been solved. The lifts are under AMC, so the minute any problem occurs, they immediately solve it. We are also retendering the canteens once the contract expires. We have received order from health department that an orthopaedic doctor has been transferred from Hospicio but has not yet joined. I hope he will join soon”.
