Sir Shadi Lal District Civil Hospital, Rewari, has been grappling with poor infrastructure and inadequate facilities, which aggravate the suffering of the patients visiting the health facility.
The old block of the Civil Hospital needs to be reconstructed, but the work has been stuck for a long time owing to various technical and official issues.
The number of doctors and paramedical staff, including lab technicians and radiographers, seems to be inadequate in view of the heavy rush of patients at the hospital. As of now, there is only one radiologist at the hospital, who has to conduct ultrasound and CT scan procedures on a large number of patients on a daily basis. Consequently, the patients requiring these diagnostic procedures have to wait for a long time.
Though another radiologist has been posted to the hospital, he has been sent on deputation to Koriawas Medical College.
Patients and their attendants also complain of shortage of medicines at the hospital. “There are 200 beds at the Civil Hospital. The number should ideally be doubled in view of the high patient footfall. A similar situation prevails at the Civil Hospitals in the other districts. The official procedure to get the number of beds increased is too complicated and time-consuming,” stated Dr Anil Yadav, state president of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA).
Dr Yadav points out that though all doctor posts at the Rewari Civil Hospital have been filled and there is no vacancy on paper, the number of doctors serving at the hospital is much lesser. “Six doctors, who were originally posted at the Rewari Civil Hospital, have been serving at medical colleges in Koriawas and Bhiwani on deputation. Besides, several other specialists are routinely engaged in medico-legal cases, administrative work and VIP duties, thereby increasing the workload on the doctors involved in patient care at the OPDs,” he maintains.
The HCMSA president said very few specialist doctors opt for government service as they are offered much higher pay packages by private hospitals. “The government should provide more incentives and a good working environment to the doctors if it wants to retain them,” he asserted.
NGO Sewa Bharti volunteer Narender Kumar Sharma, who has been engaged in helping and facilitating the patients visiting the hospital, flags the shortage of medicines and the dire need for a new hospital building. He also expresses concern over inadequate security arrangements. “The hospital is located in a low-lying area, due to which rainwater accumulates at its entrance and makes it tough for the patients and their attendants to enter the hospital during the rainy season,” he adds.
When contacted, Rewari Civil Surgeon Dr Narender Dahiya maintained that the process to reconstruct the hospital building on the same premises is underway.
Regarding the shortage of doctors, he points out that the state government has recently recruited nearly 450 doctors, some of whom are likely to be posted at the Rewari hospital.
