People demand appointment of paediatrician in Dhakuakhana subdivisional hospital

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The appointment of a pediatrician is still a distant dream in the Dhakuakhana Subdivisional Hospital which provides medical services to lakhs of people living in the subdivision of Lakhimpur district. As a consequence, most of the families of the subdivision have to suffer a lot due to unexpected post-natal deaths in the hospital.

In addition to it, unabated charging of bribe has also been alleged in the hospital by a section of dishonest nurses regarding the conduct of natural delivery of the mother. It is alleged that such medical employees, including the ASHA workers, collect money by exploiting the simple rural people of the subdivision. Of late, the death of a newborn baby on June 21 has given more weight to these allegations.

As per the report, the wife of one Jitendra Kumar Prashad of Mohghuli Chapori in the subdivision was admitted in the hospital around 7 am on that day for labour pain. The woman was under the supervision of the medical practitioners of the hospital during her advanced pre-natal stage. It is alleged that a nurse who was on the previous night-shift duty, forced the woman to have her baby born through the natural delivery process. The inexperienced nurse attended to the woman till the baby was born in the absence of the gynaecologist.

Unfortunately, the baby breathed his last after a while. Significantly, the nurse demanded the family to pay her charge as per their prior agreement. Regarding the issue, Jitendra Kumar Prashad filed a complaint against the nurse at Dhakuakhana Police Station seeking disciplinary action. However, it is learnt that the police concerned have not yet interrogated the nurse regarding the alleged complaint against her.

Notably, State Health Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma declared a few years ago that the hospital would be upgraded to a 300-bedded hospital, but no development has been seen in this regard. Moreover, baby-care unit facility is not available in the hospital yet. Under such circumstances, the people of the subdivision have demanded the Health Minister to appoint a pediatrician in the hospital and to take initiative to establish the baby care unit immediately.

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