TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald–goa.com
MARGAO: Ailing Hospicio must have felt the absence of tailors to stitch torn and mutilated bed linen, but patients have been literally undergoing nightmares over the shortage of consultants and medical officers, besides drugs, in this district government hospital.
Hospicio casualty has no dedicated round-the-clock medical officers to attend to patients. More often than not medical officers are drawn from the wards to meet emergencies.
Unlike the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, most of the out patient departments are not running on all days of the week, again for want of consultants. Herald inquiries have revealed that around 32-33 consultants are posted at the government hospital dealing with 12 specialities including medicine, surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics, forensic, orthopaedic, anesthesia and radiology. “When there are only two consultants looking after one speciality functioning of the OPDs comes to a standstill. Take the case of the orthopaedic department manned by two consultants. Many a time a person with a fractured leg may find the OPD closed. The reason being the two consultants devote two days in the operation theatre and three days in the OPD. That’s the reason why we find the OPD not open throughout the week and patients being attended in the casualty”, remarked a senior Hospicio official.
Inquiries have further revealed that the hospital has around 21 medical officers, with seven of them looking after specialities like medicine, surgery and obstetrics/paediatrics. Though Hospicio has a working arrangement with the TB hospital atop Monte Hill as well as Canacona, it faces shortage of 5-6 medical officers. “We have both male and female wards. The present strength of medical officers has failed to meet the requirements. There are occasions when the medical officer has to run from one floor to the other to attend to a pregnant woman in times of delivery and a sick child in the paediatric ward”, the official said.
The recent posting of a doctor has taken the strength of the surgeons to three, but officials in the know say there ought to be two senior and junior surgeons to meet the requirements. Similar is the case with physicians. Presently, the hospital has a lone senior and junior physician when it ought to have two senior and junior surgeons.
On the drugs front, it is not uncommon to find complaints that patients are told to get medicines from outside for want of adequate stock. “A patient was even told to get a pain killer vaccine from outside, before the nurse in the casualty made arrangement. Unlike the GMC, patients in the orthopaedic department at Hospicio are being told to procure plates from outside”, a member of the newly-constituted Hospicio visiting committee recently told Hospicio medical superintendent Dr Siona Gomes.
Says chairman of
the newly constituted Hospicio visiting committee, Rupesh Mahatme: “We have taken stock of the situation in the hospital at our first meeting – right from torn and dirty linen to manpower and drugs shortage. The committee will soon approach the government to resolve the outstanding issues plaguing Hospicio one by one”.
