GB Pant Hospital:
Problem of Plenty?
The
ANI Admn is on a rollercoaster ride with so many major projects being executed
in a hurry. The do or die approach is appreciated by one and all. Meanwhile the
larger interest seems to eclipse all lapses including procedures and processes.
It’s pertinent that with the noble end, the means too needs to be noble and
transparent.
By Zubair Ahmed
Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, the flagship of healthcare in ANI
and the only referral hospital had almost shed the sobriquet of slaughterhouse,
with slightly improved healthcare services despite shortage of specialists. But,
the recent developments portray a very precarious picture. Mismanagement and
negligence, has now become a slur, going back to the old days.
It’s quite scary that there had been 5 cases of maternal deaths
in the last three months. What is plaguing the grand hospital, with the best
infrastructure, claimed by many experts, visiting the Islands, doing sufficient
PR for the Administration?
The whole focus of the Administration in the last one year has
been on the upcoming medical college. About 85 specialists cum teaching
faculties have been recruited. All of the newly recruited personnel are based
in Port Blair, and majority of them in GB Pant Hospital. Though, it’s too early
to comment on their performances as faculties, their services in GB Pant
Hospital are not something to write home about. There is a buzz, maybe, from
the old school that either the newly appointed are very old, with no hands on
practice for many years lingering in administrative works or very young, fresh
from college.
Maybe they will prove the critics wrong in the long run, but as
far as healthcare is concerned, there can't be a teething period. It affects
lives. There is sheer confusion everywhere, with so many doctors on roll, yet deficiency
in services.
In the last case of alleged medical negligence, Mrs. Homakshi,
21, wife of Mr. D. Janaki Rao, resident of Haddo, lost her life. According
to sources, the patient had developed hypertension, which is not uncommon,
resulting in rupture of arteries leading to heavy bleeding. The family members
allege that the patient did not get proper attention. They have demanded
enquiry.
Five maternity deaths in a short span of three months is a
serious concern, whatever the final reports say. No medical board has ever
indicted any doctor for negligence or lapse in the Islands.
Andaman and Nicobar Administration is on a rollercoaster ride
with so many major projects being executed in a hurry. The do or die approach
is appreciated by one and all. Meanwhile the larger interest seems to eclipse
all lapses including procedures and processes. It’s pertinent that with the
noble end, the means too needs to be noble and transparent.
From shifting of Ayush to modifications inside the OPD section
of GB Pant Hospital and the facilities spread in three or four locations are a
few infrastructural requirements being carried out before the deadline is met.
To fulfill the MCI guidelines, the Administration did not even
hesitate in calling back the available specialists from the District Hospital
at Mayabunder, North and Middle Andaman. All the three specialists - Surgeon,
Psychiatrist and the Anesthetist have been withdrawn to fill the numbers to satisfy
MCI. Moreover, there are no regular doctors in any of the PHCs in Radhanagar,
Tugapur or Long Island. Literally, as far as availability of doctors are
concerned, there is no major difference in a PHC, CHC or District hospital.
Virtually, there is not a single specialist in a district with a
population of more than one lakh. And, people there have been demanding
physicians and technical staff for a long time. Ultrasound machines are lying
idle for lack of operators or a gynecologist.
In Nicobar district, there is a surgeon, but without an
Anesthetist. The regular transfer of
doctors has not taken place since last one year.
On the one hand, GB Pant Hospital is crammed with specialists,
but the authorities are still in a quagmire, unable to place them properly. The
chaos is literally taking a toll on delivery of services. Grand, multi-crore
buildings furnished with mosaic, tiles and glasses do not make a good health
institution, it’s the delivery of healthcare that matters.
On anonymity, a specialist said that the newly recruited doctors
are unable to cope with the situation independently and most of them have been
tagged with the local doctors.
And even in cases of forensic investigations, still the hospital
is relying on the general doctors or sending sample to mainland. In fact, when
the doctors have been appointed with enormous emoluments paid every month, why
can't the Administration utilize their services diligently?
During the last six months, under Dr S K Paul, it was an
emergency-like situation. Expecting some plum position in the upcoming medical
college, when he was asked to bend, he literally crawled.
One of the staff, who in an emergency had to rush for surgery in
a private hospital, was denied reimbursement. She was taken from GB Pant
Hospital to the private hospital, as on a Sunday, the surgeon was not
available. When she submitted her medical bills for reimbursement with the
Directorate where she was working as a Teaching Faculty in the Nursing School,
a mock medical board was set up to deny her the reimbursement. Medical
reimbursement in the Islands is in itself interesting tale.
In another strange case, an X-Ray technician posted at PHC
Wimberly Gunj was arrested on charges of sexual harassment four months back,
and the Department is yet to provide alternative. When the Pradhan Jyoti Kindo
approached Dr S K Paul, then Director, instead of a solution he blamed her for
getting the guy booked.
It’s quite obvious that rift has started surfacing between the
old and the new. However, it’s the Administration which needs to address the
genuine concerns raised by the local doctors. Their apprehensions were taken up
by Andaman and Nicobar Health Service Doctors Association.
The Association had met the Secretary Health and apprised her about
the concerns. It has blamed that the Administration at no point thought it
essential to discuss the modalities of opening the medical college, and the
status of the senior specialists and GDMOs with PG qualification and GDMOs in
general. They were kept in dark. They have also raised the issue about the
transfer policy of doctors as well as other staff, once GB Pant Hospital comes
under the control of the society, ANIMERS. With interviews being conducted for
Jr. Resident, Sr. Resident, Asst Professors, Associate Professors and others
for the medical college and all of them working at GB Pant Hospital, what would
be the status of 22 sanctioned existing GDMOs of the hospital?
The Association is also apprehensive about the jumbled
alterations made inside the OPD complex to accommodate the new staff, which
would be disastrous in case of fire accidents or other disasters.
When the Islanders are upbeat over the developments, it’s
pertinent that the Administration does not ignore the dissenting voices and
accommodate genuine concerns of all stakeholders, most primarily if it affects
their lives.
