Inspection by MP will help improve facilities: Residents

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 14

Residents feel that the recent back to back inspections of MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla at Government Medical College, in which he found ‘discrepancies’, will help improve medical facilities for the poor.

They say besides shortcomings in infrastructure and manpower, lack of will among the employees to serve the patients is the biggest cause of concern.

Jagtar Singh, a resident, said, “If the MP really wants to improve medical services at the hospital, he will have to break the nexus between private laboratories and doctors.” 

It is very common that patients are often sent to private labs for various tests. Even employees of private labs can be spotted roaming inside the wards of the hospital and collecting samples.

The residents say the government functionaries are well aware of the pathetic state of medical services at government hospitals as many discrepancies were found during many inspections.

Sukhwant Singh, a senior citizen, said, “The people who can afford treatment at private clinics are not coming to government hospitals. A perception has grown over the years that employees at these hospitals are indifferent. The government is to blame for the lethargy and indifference that has caught the employees. The political interference in these institutions should be only for the betterment of medical services.”

The residents rue that the unavailability of senior doctors at their stations during the working hours is a grave problem and it should be checked. 

Even the MP had seen himself that most of the senior doctors were unavailable and juniors mostly PG students are rendering services, they added.