His 82-year-old father admitted within the orthopaedic division of the Lok Nayak Hospital following a fracture within the leg after struggling a fall within the lavatory, east Delhi resident Sunil is busy arranging for a rod wanted to repair the damaged limb. Insisting that he’s solely doing what the medical doctors requested him to, he mentioned, “Now we have not been given something by the hospital. This may price me round Rs 20,000.”
Sunil’s shouldn’t be the one case. With numerous key Delhi authorities hospitals dealing with scarcity of medicines, a number of sufferers have to purchase medicines and consumable objects utilized in affected person care on their very own, based on medical doctors and nursing officers.
The scarcity can also be on the centre of a current disagreement between Delhi Lieutenant Governor V Ok Saxena and state well being minister Saurabh Bhardwaj. Whereas the L-G has requested the well being minister for a gathering, Bharadwaj, in flip, invited him to go to a couple of Delhi authorities hospitals, stating {that a} majority of sufferers come from BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
The problem has sparked disagreement between L-G Saxena and Well being Minister Bharadwaj (File Photograph)
The backwards and forwards was triggered after it was reported that an 8-year-old boy with a damaged arm was allegedly turned away on April 1 by Dr Hedgewar Aarogya Sansthan and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, stating that they didn’t have cotton and neither was any orthopaedic physician obtainable to deal with him.
Bharadwaj, in a letter, mentioned on Friday that he had a gathering with the Medical Administrators and Medical Superintendents of the hospitals who instructed him that there’s a shortage even because the chief secretary and well being secretary denied any such scarcity. The Indian Express reached out to a number of Delhi authorities hospitals and spoke with medical doctors, nursing officers and different officers on points which can be arising in affected person care.
‘Mortuary bag not obtainable for months’
In keeping with a senior official at Lok Nayak hospital, the most important Delhi authorities hospital, there’s a scarcity of a number of medicines and consumable objects which have been unavailable for a number of months now. Regardless of requests, solely half of the objects have been offered, they added.
Consumable objects like mortuary luggage and mortuary sheets haven’t been obtainable for the final 3-4 months, based on a letter by a senior nursing officer to the casualty medical officer.
“On April 4, we gave a listing of unavailable medicines and consumables corresponding to bandage rolls and nebulizer masks, which we’re falling in need of however haven’t obtained the objects but,” the official mentioned. A senior physician at Lok Nayak hospital, on the situation of anonymity, mentioned that objects that are used extensively corresponding to cotton bandages typically fall brief with solely half the requisite quantity offered.
Medical Director of Lok Nayak Hospital, Dr Suresh Kumar, remained unavailable to answer the matter.
‘Medicine rip-off’ impact
One other official said that the issue in procuring medicines has been persisting because the alleged drugs rip-off wherein the L-G had additionally initiated an inquiry. In December, Saxena beneficial a CBI probe into the procurement and provide of allegedly spurious and “non-standard” medicine — together with some life-saving medicines — at Delhi authorities hospitals and the AAP’s flagship mohalla clinics within the Capital.
At GB Pant Hospital, the scarcity has been reported for a very long time now and sometimes, primary medicines like paracetamol stay unavailable, based on Liladhar Ramchandani, a nursing officer on the hospital and secretary normal of Delhi Nurses’ Federation.
A health care provider from Ambedkar Hospital mentioned that there’s a scarcity of important medicines corresponding to antibiotics, that are procured from the Central Procurement Company, including the matter is being “politicised unnecessarily” as a substitute of discovering a decision.
The company, fashioned by the Delhi authorities, provides medicines and consumables to hospitals. “Now we have been requested to maintain the substitutes of those medicines,” he mentioned.
Insisting that they’ve “every little thing in place”, a senior physician from Burari Hospital mentioned the hospital stock is so large that issues generally fall brief as a result of poor coordination. “Typically provide orders fail, the tender contract ends… It’s a dynamic factor. It retains taking place,” he mentioned, including that there have been points for the previous few months however “we’re engaged on it”.
On Saturday, medical administrators and medical superintendents of assorted hospitals held a dialogue with the chief secretary to establish the issues. “A generic dialogue on how the issues will be resolved passed off,” mentioned a medical superintendent of a hospital who attended the assembly. Well being Secretary SB Deepak remained unavailable for a touch upon the matter.
Bharadwaj’s workplace mentioned he had given a number of written instructions to the Well being Secretary and Chief Secretary to unravel these points on the highest precedence. “I’ve repeatedly requested them to share their plan of motion together with timelines,” mentioned Bharadwaj. “Nevertheless, as a substitute of fixing the problem, the Chief Secretary and Well being Secretary are deceptive the federal government by submitting that there isn’t a shortage of medicines and consumables. That is after they have, on their very own, admitted in a communication that there’s shortage of medicines and consumables on the hospitals,” he added.
