Patients in lurch as gynecologists being transferred in Doon medical college
DEHRADUN, 22 NOV 2017:
The problems of patients and staff of Obstetrics and Gynecology of Doon medical college increased after two doctors were transferred on Tuesday. Now the unit is left with just five doctors who are responsible for treatment of 110 expecting mothers and new-moms.
However, as per MCI norms, the hospital should accommodate just 40 beds but hospital administration accommodates as many pregnant women as possible in the unit. Of the five doctors, two hold administrative posts, thus leaving them in a state where they either compromise on administrative tasks or attending patients.
Reeling under staff shortage, the health department is also transferring its Provincial Medical Health Services (PMHS) doctors to new location. Meanwhile, two senior resident doctors of the hospital have also resigned while two junior resident doctors refrain from taking any critical case, eventually leaving the patients in the lurch.
The expectations of locals from Doon medical hospital that it would boost up the health services has almost fallen flat because the hospital doesn’t even refer the patients to nearby private hospitals, sticking to MCI norms.
Rather, hospital has been given authority to refer the patients to either AIIMS Rishikesh or PGI Chandigarh in case of emergency but most of the patients find it extremely unviable option in delivery emergency. Ultimately, they land up paying from their own pockets for critical cases at private hospitals.
When asked about the less number of doctors, CMS of the women wing, Dr Meenakshi Joshi, said, “We are persistently updating higher officials about vulnerability of the patients and dire need to either run the hospital as per the norm of MCI (40-beds) to give quality or, deploy additional doctors so that pressure of patients more than MCI norms can be treated adequately. We do not wish to provide compromised services to beneficiaries.”