Women and child hospitals sans doctors, infrastructure

Take the experience of a woman patient in her early forties at the W and C Hospital at Thycaud , Thiruvananthapuram , who was asked to go to a private scanning centre only because its radiologist had gone on leave.

“There was no one to replace the radiologist on leave. Also I was advised by the gynaecologist at the Thycaud hospital to undergo a hysterectomy when another gynecologist at the SAT Hospital said I did not need one,” recounts the woman, who works as a bench clerk.

Sadly, shortage of doctors and infrastructure dogs nearly all W & C hospitals although NABH status is awarded only after detailed assessment of standards in diagnosis and treatment over a period of three years. The treatment, modern methods of diagnosis, safety and security of patients, facilities in the wards and documentation of systems and services, are all supposedly taken into consideration before such recognition is given.

Ask health minister, V. S. Sivakumar about the condition of the hospitals and he admits “there have been some issues with maintaining the standards of W & C hospitals which have been awarded NABH status.”

“The hardships faced by the patients who come to the W & C hospitals have been brought to the notice of health ministry officials. We will find a solution,” he assures.

But this could be easier said than done as the task is clearly huge. Visit the W & C Hospital in Mattancherry and the challenge ahead is there for everyone to see. Once a busy hospital catering hundreds of patients from across the city, especially west Kochi , it is now a shadow of its former self with little infrastructure and manpower to speak of.

“Though a two- storeyed building was constructed recently and it now houses the labour room and maternity wards, the hospital lacks infrastructure. Being a district specialty hospital, its needs much better facilities,” acknowledges District Medical Officer, Dr. Hazeena Mohammed.

The matter was raised at a recent meeting of the hospital management committee by corporation health committee chairman T.K Ashraf , who even suggested that if the health department could not provide it experienced doctors, the hospital should close down its inpatient section.

“There are only two junior gynaecologists on the rolls while the actual requirement is for four senior doctors. Also, while the total number of doctors required is 15, there are only 10 serving now. The nurses strength is equally dismal,” Mr Ashraf pointed out.

The Kollam Victoria Hospital, which is hoping to bag the Kerala Accreditation Standards for Hospitals (KASH), the preliminary step for national accreditation , is a little better with an infertility clinic, which has carried out almost 10 successful IVF procedures and a new block to provide patients better facilities. But the building is still waiting for the power supply it was sanctioned recently and new medical equipment. As for staff, it has an adequate number of gynaecologists, but no anaesthetist.

The W & C Hospital at Kottaparambu in Kozhikode, however lacks both space and experts. Hospital superintendent in-charge, Dr P. Mohan Das says that going by NABH standards the hospital must have 295 beds, but has only 206 due to lack of space. Currently it has enough staff, but if the hospital had 295 beds, it would need more , he admits.

While the W & C Hospital at Alappuzha may have all the facilities it needs, it has often been targeted for medical negligence. Only recently relatives of a woman admitted for delivery went on a rampage in its corridors accusing the authorities of negligence. But ask hospital superintendent, Dr Usha Devi, and she claims all is well at the hospital and many of the reports about it in the media are fabricated. She also shrugs off all responsibility for the recent violence by the family of the woman admitted for delivery.

Meanwhile a year ago, the DMO C Muraleedharan Pillai, transferred six employees of W & C Hospital after they were found receiving bribe from the bystanders of the hospital.