Staff crunch, emergency services hit at Gidderbaha Civil Hospital

Archit Watts

Gidderbaha/Muktsar, Feb 9

The civil hospital in Gidderbaha, adjudged first in the sub-district hospital category in the state in the ‘Kayakalp’ programme of the Health Department and bagged Rs 15 lakh cash award in 2019, is now struggling to run its emergency medical services.

The services are dependent on a staff nurse from 3 pm to 8 pm daily. The hospital is facing acute shortage of doctors, both specialists and emergency medical officers.

Presently, this hospital has just two emergency medical officers and one of them is on leave. In the present circumstances, one doctor is called on deputation from the civil hospital at Badal village. They are doing emergency duty for 13 hours at night from 8 pm to 9 am daily on alternate days.

The emergency services are being run by the specialists in from 9 am to 3 pm daily. Further, this sub-divisional hospital presently has just two specialist doctors — one is an otolaryngologist and another an orthopaedist. The hospital doesn’t have any gynaecologist, paediatrician, dermatologist, ophthalmologist, psychiatrist, surgeon and general physician.

On this, Dr Rashmi Chawla, Senior Medical Officer (SMO), said, “There is acute shortage of doctors – both specialists and emergency medical officers – at this hospital. We are somehow running the hospital. The emergency services are affected in the evening as we don’t have any doctor available.

“We have posted a staff nurse to take care of the emergency services in the evening. She can’t perform the duties of a doctor, but gives first aid to the patients or refers them to the civil hospital in Muktsar or Malout.

“Against the sanctioned posts of seven emergency medical officers, we just have two emergency medical officers posted here. Further, we have just two specialist doctors. Besides, we have one anaesthetist, who comes thrice a week here. Further, we have one pathologist,” said Chawla.

No doctor in evening

There is an acute shortage of doctors – both specialists and emergency medical officers. We are somehow running the hospital. The emergency services are affected in the evening as no doctor is available. — Dr Rashmi Chawla, SMO