KOCHI: The sick and suffering in Malipuram have been left out in the cold, with services at the Community Health Centre coming to a standstill in the night-time. The doctors at the Centre have stopped offering night services on account of staff shortage.“A minimum of eight doctors are needed to work round-the-clock, but we have only five doctors now and it is not possible to have night shifts with this number,” said Mahesh Kumar, Medical officer, Malipuram Community Health Centre.“More than 300 patients visit the hospital everyday. The current crisis can be solved to a great extent if Njarakkal Government Hospital, which has now been upgraded to the level of a Taluk hospital, starts functioning accordingly. As of now, the exists only on paper,” he said. “We have nowhere to go after 5 pm if there is an emergency. The nearby hospital in Njarakkal also does not have doctors at night. We hope the government will look into the matter soon,” said Joly, a native of Malipuram.“The government is apathetic to the crisis which began three years ago. We staged protests, after which the authorities appointed doctors for the night, but barely a few months later, it was back to square one,” said C G Biju, district secretary, CPI(ML).Malipuram comes under Edappally block of the Elamkunnappuzha panchayat. People from Elamkunnappuzha, Nayarambalam and Njarakkal depend on the Malipuram Health Centre.“If the government appoints more doctors we can resolve the present crisis,” said Sudhakaran, District Medical Office (DMO), Ernakulam. “If it is not possible for doctors to work at night, an alternative arrangement will have to be made as the area is highly populated and disease-prone. Round-the-clock services of doctors is the need of the hour,” said Eliamma Isaac, Edappally Block panchayat president.
Comments
0 comment