Nalagarh’s Community Health Centre lacks adequate staff, facilities

Located in the industrial hub of Nalagarh, the Community Health Centre (CHC) is catering to a large population where accident cases pour in almost daily. The centre offers little relief to residents as it ails both in facilities and specialists, forcing the common man to turn to scores of private hospitals which have sprung up in the area.

The hospital is under-staffed with a stark shortage of doctors and paramedics as well as diagnostic facilities. Its outdoor patient department (OPD) sees an influx of nearly 700-800 patients on a daily basis.

“A doctor or two are daily involved in post-mortems, as one to four accident cases surface on a daily basis. There is a dire need of a forensic expert who can deal with the post-mortems so that the doctors can be spared for attending to the patients,” said Dr Mukta Rastogi, Block Medical Officer, Nalagarh.

The hospital has barely one gynaecologist who has to cater to at least 250 delivery cases, besides the daily patients and C-section surgeries in a month. At least three to four gynaecologists are required to handle the patient turnout. Similar is the case of a single orthopaedic surgeon, who is overburdened with cases of accidents and other patient turnout on a daily basis.

The hospital appears to be ailing in almost every department that one examines. The absence of a radiologist for the past nearly three years has put on hold ultrasound tests and the pregnant women were the worst sufferers. They were forced to turn to private labs and pay through the nose for this key investigation. Though the hospital has an ultrasound machine, it can’t be put to use in the absence of a radiologist.

This pollution-ridden industrial belt has no ear, nose and throat specialist as well as medicine specialist, adding to the woes of patients. Two specialists had tendered their resignation after the completion of their contract and no new specialists have been posted here.

Sources say this speaks volumes about the declining interest in government jobs as specialists prefer better equipped private hospitals offering better emoluments and facilities. “Out of the 15 sanctioned posts of medical officers, four are lying vacant for months — one of operation theatre assistant, clerk, computer operator, ophthalmic officer, ECG technician and several paramedical staffers,” said Dr Rastogi.

Though a trauma centre is being developed in the hospital, it is yet to get dedicated staff, failing to fulfill its optimum purpose. Since this hospital is located on the national highway amidst the industrial hub, cases of accidents pour in every now and then. Bereft of specialists and facilities like the MRI, these cases are usually referred to higher medical institutes like the PGI, Chandigarh, with cases of victims succumbing to their injuries enroute surfacing regularly.