E-Paper
Complaints of doctors’ absence: Officials conduct surprise late-night visits at health centres
Tukaram Mundhe, commissioner, health services, had asked director health services to look into the matter after receiving complaints of non-availability of doctors, nurse staff at health centres during night hours
The health department officials conducted surprise visits on Thursday late night and Friday midnight at various government-run primary health centres (PHC) and rural hospitals following complaints of absence of doctors and nursing staff at night.
Tukaram Mundhe, commissioner, health services, had asked director health services to look into the matter after receiving complaints of non-availability of doctors, nurse staff at health centres during night hours.
Mundhe instructed the district health officers, civil surgeons and deputy directors of health across Maharashtra to conduct surprise visits at these medical centres to check whether staff are present and emergencies are attended to during late- night hours.
Dr Sanjog Kadam, deputy director, health, visited Alandi rural hospital at 1.30 am on Friday. On-duty doctors and staff were present at that time. Also, 10 female and five male patients were receiving treatment at the hospital.
District health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar visited Wagholi PHC and district surgeon Dr Ashok Nandapurkar visited rural hospital at Vadgaon Maval. Senior officials from the department said that these visits are a part of routine procedure.
As per the health department, there should be two medical officers at each primary health centre and three posted at rural hospitals. There are 1,839 primary health centres and 504 rural hospitals in Maharashtra.
