CHENNAI: The state health department has appointed 304 nodal officers to rectify deficiencies flagged by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), relating to sanitation, drinking water, toilets, patient and attendant amenities, upkeep of buildings and infrastructure, security and equipment, at government hospitals across the state.
In a letter to the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services and Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the department directed district collectors to review the shortcomings identified in hospitals under their jurisdiction and rectify them, through the district health officers, the joint directors of health services and the deans and furnish a report with photographs showing the corrective measures.
The CMO note identified deficiencies in government medical college hospitals and attached institutions across 31 districts. In Omandurar Multi Super Speciality Hospital there is severe shortage of doctors, with only four currently working, because the hospital lacks a postgraduate course in cardiology. The hospital treats 500 to 600 cardiac patients daily, and has 133 ICU beds, but only 150 nursing positions are allotted for the entire facility. More nursing positions must be created, the communication said.
At Government Hospital for Women and Children, Egmore, ward boys and watchmen hired through private contracts are poorly trained, and some are reportedly using alcohol and ganja inside the campus areas in the evenings. Outsourced female staff in the maternity wards are allowed to work in the same section for too long which has led to widespread bribery and extortion from patients, it said.
At Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, only 3 to 4 patients can get an MRI scan per day due to lack of equipment, emergency patients are regularly sent to other hospitals for urgent scans.
Housekeeping staff and security staff demand bribes ranging from `50 to `500 from patients. Maternity ward staff demand money based on the sex of the newborn child, and mortuary workers demand up to `2,000 from grieving families to hand over bodies.
At Royapettah government hospital, ward staff who assist moving patients or take them for scans openly demand bribes of `30 to `500, even accepting payments via google pay when cash is unavailable. Due to extreme staff shortage employees work up to 12 hours a day, causing severe mental stress, the note said.
At Government Stanley Medical College Hospital, a shortage of doctors and nurses delays treatment and compromises medical quality. Staff members take bribes from patients to move them to test centres or wards, and money is illicitly collected at scanning centres, laboratories and the mortuary.
Staff shortages have also been flagged at Government Medical College Hospital, Ooty, where only 51 of the sanctioned 128 medical and technical personnel are currently working. The absence of specialists in neurology, nephrology, cardiology and neurosurgery has resulted in critically ill patients being referred elsewhere, it said.
At Tiruvallur Government Medical College Hospital, paramedical staff across the district routinely refuse to bandage or do dressing to accident wounds until patients pay them a bribe of `20 to `50. At Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital, doctors strength was increased from 33 to 38 despite the hospital expanding dramatically from 450 beds to 1,286 beds. More doctors must be hired to avoid treatment delays, the note said.