Doctor posted at dispensary is ‘irregular’

Charu Chhibber

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

Septuagenarian Gurdial Singh, a resident of village Daria, walks miles in the scorching summer sun only to give up and hire an auto-rickshaw to reach the Civil Hospital in Mani Majra. He has a persistent stomach ache for the last two days with slight nausea.

He complains that though there is an Alternative Medical Unit (AMU), which he refers to as a ‘small dispensary’ near his house, he has to always sprint to Mani Majra whenever he or anyone in his family needs medical attention. “The doctor at the ‘dispensary’ is irregular’. We never know when he will come and when not,” complains Singh.

He adds that when questioned, the staff at the AMU tells the village residents that the doctor is away for some important meeting at the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, Chandigarh.

Interestingly, when a Chandigarh Tribune visited the AMU, the lone staff member present, who identified himself as “staff” said the same. He added that in the absence of the doctor, the pharmacist attended to the patients and prescribed medicines for minor ailments like fever, stomach ache, headache and flu to name a few, while the patients who seemed sick, were referred to the GMSH-16. He said the pharmacist was also away for a few minutes. However, the pharmacist failed to return even after a wait of over 30 minutes.

The “staff member” further informed that as per the records of the AMU, there was a daily footfall of 80 patients in the OPD. The AMU operates in two rooms – the doctor’s room and the pharmacy that doubles up as the registration counter, the OPD and the waiting hall.

Meanwhile, the patients waiting outside rued that this was a regular feature and despite the facility of an AMU in the village, which has a large population, the residents could not avail the health care benefits.

“Even if we have fever, most of the time we are not given medicines by the AMU staff. We are instead directed to buy the medicines from the nearby chemist store,” complained another resident Vimla.

Notably, keeping in mind the need of a doctor in continuity on a daily basis in the peripheries of the city, alternative medical units were set up in 2011. The primary aim was to provide better and easily accessible health care services to all city residents and to decrease the patient load on major health facilities.

When contacted, Dr Rakesh Kashyap, Director, Health Services, who is also the Mission Director, NRHM, Chandigarh, denied that the staff at the AMUs was irregular. “Our doctors and staff in these institutions are regular in their duties. They have to attend meetings and trainings sometimes” he said.

What is AMUAM

Us are a result of inter-sectoral convergence as it is being done in collaboration with the Department of Rural Development. Each team comprises of one Medical Officer, one pharmacist and one helper. The infrastructure for these centres, including the building and furniture, is provided by the Department of Rural Development, manpower and contingency support is provided by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and medicines and equipment are provided by the Health Department.