The doctors in the Sadar hospital in Aurangabad are having a tough time, being forced to examine 300 to 400 patients every day at the OPD. This goes completely against the 40 patients a day norm. And the fact that the hospital recently got the ISO certification makes this ironic.

Of the nine doctors in the hospital, five have refused to perform OPD duty, claiming that they were appointed as specialized doctors. This meant that the other doctors were forced to perform emergency and OPD duty for longer hours.

About 1000 to 1,200 patients visit the Sadar hospital’s OPD and emergency every single day. Given the number of doctors, this means one doctor handling 300 to 400 patients on a daily basis- a clear violation of National Health Rural Mission(NRHM) norms according to which one doctor should treat just 40 patient per day.

It’s said that acute shortage of doctors in the hospital is not a new phenomenon. It’s also been said that even though the authorities, including the Union health minister were appraised of the situation, the health department still hasn’t filled the vacancies. Apparently, the functioning of various departments in the hospital including surgery, ENT and pediatrics are paralyzed since not even a single doctor with the relevant specialization is available.

One Rampariksha Prasad related to the newspaper, The Times of India that even though the hospital’s sanctioned strength is 38, it has only nine doctors. Prasad added that he came to the hospital to have kidney stone removed but was told that the operation cannot be performed owing to the shortage of specialized doctors.

Rajkumar Prasad, the deputy superintendent of the hospital said to the same newspaper that the condition in the hospital can only be improved after the necessary number of doctors are made available. He further added that though he has been seeking more doctors from superiors for quite a long time, nothing has come of it.

Image credits: emaze.com
Images may be indicative

   Send article as PDF