Hospitals run short of infrastructure, staff in face of increase in patients

Chennai: When there is a steady increase in the number of Chennaiites embracing Siddha treatment, the two reputed hospitals for the medicine – National Institute of Siddha and Central Siddha Research Institute – have several lapses, thus reducing the quality of the treatment.

A visit to the hospitals exposes harsh facts varying from the lack of infrastructure to the staff crunch, crippling the trust of the patients. Basic amenities and the staff are not in proportion to the increased number of the patients. Though the doctors and directors boast of the increased number of patients at the institute, the question on number of patients per nurse is unanswered.

Lack of staff has been a prolonged issue at the institute, with just 33 nurses who work in three shifts to treat 200 odd in-patients on a daily basis. With massage therapy being the primary treatment for Siddha treatment, the shortage of masseurs has been a prolonged issue at the National Siddha Institute. With only around six masseurs for 110 patients daily, treatment of many patients with chronic ailments is affected.

When contacted, medical officers at the institute admitted that lack of staff has affected the services offered to patients. “We take help of students at the institute owing to less staff. Due to lower number of doctors, the impact on quality of services is bound to happen,” he added.

Patients complain that the duration of massage to be provided is not as per the prescription of the doctor. “When we ask the masseurs to increase the duration of the massage, they mention the large number of patients waiting,” said Prakash Kumar (name changed).

Patients wait for hours in long queues in the OPD in the ground floor of the Arumbakkam institute, which is a small room that does not even have the seating capacity for even 100 patients, though 2,000 patients visit the institute daily.

“The cabins of doctors of eight departments are attached to such a small room, we had to sit outside the institute premises as there was no seating availability inside,” said G. Bala, a patient at the Arumbakkam Siddha Institute.

(With inputs from Steena Das)