Garhwa reels under health staff crunch amid rising Covid cases

Garhwa: With just 65 doctors, including the civil surgeon, against the sanctioned 180 posts,

Garhwa

is reeling under a massive

crunch

of healthcare

staff

even as cases continue to rise in the district. Till Wednesday, the district saw 107 cases of Covid-19 with 10 still active.

The health centres in Ranka, Ramkanda, Chinia and Danda blocks in particular have a massive shortage of manpower.

Out of the 65 doctors only 33 are regular, 28 Ayush doctors and four working on a contractual basis. As a result, one

doctor

is often seen as the in-charge of more than one hospital in the district who give their services in rotation. Apart from doctors, there is also a shortage of paramedics. Only three GNMs are working on a regular basis against the sanctioned eight.

At the sadar hospital, hundreds of patients turn up on a daily basis, but because of a shortage of manpower, several patients are left unattended. Often, patients are referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Services in Ranchi or other hospitals. A dearth of beds also plaques the hospital. Even after 12 years of inauguration, the hospital is yet to be completed. It was said that the sadar hospital will have a capacity of 100 beds.

Civil surgeon Dr N K Rajak conceded the problems, but said, “Although departmental reports mention a shortage of doctors and representations are regularly sent to the headquarters, no action has been taken by the government so far. Despite the shortage of doctors and staff, we are trying our best to provide the best health services to the people at the sadar hospital as well as in the community health centres.”