Main hospital on sick bed as management dillydallies on staffing

Kothagudem: Though the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) has been providing best possible comforts to its workers, the facilities at the main hospital, located near the corporate office, are very meagre due to shortage of staff.

The workers and their families from about six areas of Singareni visit the hospital for treatment. The main hospital building is not in good condition and also it lacks facilities. Therefore patients visiting the hospital face problems like insufficient staff, small number of doctors and no proper care. 

The patients said, “we serve the company but the company is not providing good health service facilities.  The Area hospitals doctors refer the patients here for better treatment but here there are few staff and no minimum facilities,” they said. They appealed to the management to give more facilities in the hospital.

Shortage of medical and paramedical staff is the major problem in the hospital. Several paramedical staff posts are vacant. There are very few ward boys and nurses in the hospitals to take care of patients. In 200- bed hospital, the company has not carried out recruitments according to the norms, alleged the union leaders.  

Speaking to The Hans India, AITUC leader Vanga Venkat said many times his organisation submitted representations for the recruitment of paramedical staff and appoint duty doctors and special doctors for treatment of workers.  But the management is not taking any interest in the recruitment of staff, he added. 

The workers and their families are suffering due to lack of staff. Many a times they l go to the private hospitals for treatment.  The women patients are facing problems because in a 40-bed ward only one nurse takes care of all patients. How is it possible to take care of so many patients, he questioned. He demanded the management to recruit more staff in all departments in the hospital as per the norms.  

On the other hand, the main hospital chief Srinivas Rao accepted that there are several vacancies in various departments in the hospital.  He said, the proposals have been sent to the management to issue notification for recruitment of the staff including doctors.  

He said the company invites specialist doctors from the corporate hospitals in Hyderabad every week for the medical checkup of workers, but they are not interested to come. He further said that a proposal for the recruitment of more staff has been sent to the management for approval and the selection process will begin soon.