E-Paper
All pomp and no show: One doctor for 900 patients at Ludhiana hospital
Fourteen out of the seventeen sanctioned posts at the hospital in Ludhiana’s Subhash Nagar, which opened in 2016, are vacant
Well-furnished with best facilities, ranging from beds and elevators to air conditioners and a fully equipped operation theatre, the 30-bedded Subash Nagar Urban Community Health Care (UCHC), boasting of seven specialised outpatient departments, has not admitted or operated on a single patient since its establishment in 2016.
The three-story hospital, built in Subash Nagar, was inaugurated under the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) state government in 2016. Afterward, it saw a five-year Congress rule (2017-2022) and is currently under the Aam Aadmi Party (2022-present), but it has yet to secure a permanent doctor.
Wanted: Doctors, nurses or guards
The staff situation at the health care facility is surprisingly low, with only three out of 17 sanctioned posts filled. The UCHC has a sanctioned strength of four medical officers, with three currently lying vacant, along with positions for a gynaecologist, paediatrician, and doctors for the medicine, dental and surgery wing. All barring the dental wing currently lie vacant.
Besides, there are five staff nurse positions, of which four are vacant. The pharmacist position is also vacant, as is the one for a laboratory Technician and multi-task worker. The hospital also requires additional staff, including four Class 4 sweepers and two security guards.
Addressing the situation, UCHC medical officer Dr Awalnoor said, “It has been three years since I joined this hospital as a contractual medical officer. The hospital is fully equipped, but substantially low on the manpower required to run the facility. The hospital records a monthly OPD count of 900 patients and a footfall of 100-150 Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT), besides a high count of HIV and TB patients.”
“From doctors to sweepers, the hospital grapples with manpower. However, after the visit of health minister Dr Balbir Singh in October 2023, the hospital has seen improvement, with doctors from Christian Medical College coming in for specialised OPD, catering to one department once a week. The health minister, during his round, assured that soon the hospital will get the staff and become fully operational to its capacity,” he added.
One nurse for 150 patients
Despite such low manpower, the hospital sees a footfall of over 150 patients a day. However, only one staff nurse caters to all of them, from registering them to dispensing their medicines.
Gurvinder, the only staff nurse at UCHC, said, “At least 100 turn up at the OOAT centre, who have to be given medicine. I have to register OPD patients, ranging from 50-60, dispense the medicine, and run clerical errands all by myself despite there being five posts of staff nurse.”
Former SAD legislator Ranjit Singh Dhillon, who was part of the inauguration of the UCHC in 2016, said, “It was built at the cost of ₹5 crore at the time; the infrastructure was complete, a medical store was set up that would offer around 100 different types of medicine for free. However, the succeeding government could not run it with all facilities available; they could not recruit staff and let the equipment and beds catch rust since 2016.”
Commenting on the staffing situation, civil surgeon Dr. Jasbir Aulakh said, “The shortage of manpower is everywhere, throughout all departments in the government sector. Recruitment happens at the senior level, which is beyond my control. As a civil surgeon, my duty is to oversee the functioning of the staff that is already working.”
