Health Care in A.P State

HEALTH CARE IN A.P

WHEN YOU VISIT ANY BIG GOVT HOSPITAL

WITH TEACHING FACILITIES WHAT DO YOU FIND?

Large crowds in the corridors, doctors surrounded by too many patients who are elbowing each other and a system that seems to have bred indiscipline. Too many patients with complaints ranging from simple conditions like common cold to very complex medical condition which only the specialists can tackle.

A District level hospital is considered as a referral hospital with several different departments manned by specialists and a teaching hospital is considered to be a tertiary care hospital . We have the specialists at the District hospitals but each one's time is divided between dozens upon dozens of cases . The cases that deserve the attention of the specialist may get only a cursory check up for want of time and personnel. The scene is much the same at speciality hospitals like Nilofur(pediatric) or ENT hospital at Hyderabad. The doctors are in such short supply, most of the out patients are screened by the post-graduate students. The Post Graduate students some times stay on duty for 30-36 hours at a stretch. What is the efficiency of a person who works one -and- a half days at a stretch ? What kind of attention would a doctor be able to pay if he/she is surrounded or mobbed by patients ?? Who has the patience to wait till their turn comes ? Patients have family duties. They have cooking to finish and children to feed ! Patients who go to the Govt hospitals are not the leisurely class- they are the working class.

All of us are aware of the problem. Most of the senior doctors also know how to solve the problem of over crowding in the teaching hospitals and District hospitals. It is reasonable to ask the patients to treat a referral hospital as secondary care institution. The system of asking the patients to get written referral from a PHC / Municipal Clinic / Rural or Panchayat Hospital to a secondary or Tertiary care hospital should be instituted. Emergencies can be attended to as usual- as emergencies at these big hospitals. The Primary care Hospitals should not be bypassed. This would reduce unnecessary load on the inadequate staff at the Secondary & Tertiary care (teaching ) Hospitals. The specialist doctors today are acting crowd managers. The P.G students are being trained more in crowd management than in medical treatment.

When people respect the Primary Health Care Centers and Munucipal Clinics they save time and costs. With a little less work load on their hands the specialists would be able to spare more time for diagnosis and treatment.

WHY DON'T PEOPLE GO TO THE MUNICIPAL & PANCHAYAT HOSPITALS WHICH ARE MANNED BY DOCTORS WITH THE SAME MBBS QUALIFICATION??

People have lost trust in the government run clinics long time ago because their Pharmacies , more often than not, were out of stock. The doctors were there. The nurses were there. The diagnosis was done. It's the Treatment that was absent in these hospitals. Minor surgeries could not be done for want of cotton & gauge bandages. As for the MBBS doctors,there was no meaningful work . Apathy has set in. People, on their part, stopped hoping for any kind of help from these primary care establishments. It all went into disrepute.To regain the trust and faith in the primary care our health ministry should send medicine, cotton and bandage material.