RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Dec.28: Availability of human resources in the state health institutions is still an issue to address though the Hemant Soren government completed three years today and passed through the tough phase of the corona pandemic and got proper opportunity to think on improvement of the health system.
As mock drills started in the wake of the fourth wave of the corona pandemic, a discussion over the scarcity of manpower started. If those closely associated with medical services are believed, the government failed to sort out the issue of management of manpower in the health institutions.
“At RIMS around 400 guards and trolley men, who had played a vital role during the pandemic despite many of them getting infected by Covid-19 and five of them losing their lives, are not getting their salary for the last five months. There is suspicion over their continuation in the service due to corruption involved in outsourcing the manpower,” a RIMS insider said.
“As far as nurses are concerned, its number rose to 600 from 250 but still the number is not adequate taking the number of 2100 beds including ICU as according to rule one nurse is required behind one ICU bed and one nurse is required behind three normal beds in all the shifts. Whenever talks start about improving the health system, officials start discussion on purchasing equipment, medicines, surgical items beside others and not on appointment of man powers who will use the equipment, surgical items, medicines and maintain hospital infrastructure for proper care of a patient,” the insider said.
A Sadar Hospital insider said the situation in the hospital is almost the same. “Number of doctors has not increased in the hospital though the load is heavy on the hospital. As far as fourth grade staff are concerned their number is very less. Without adequate numbers of fourth grade staff, optimum use of senior grade staff also becomes difficult,” the insider said.
A Jharkhand High Court lawyer supported the situation saying pendency of cases and negative observation of judges taking the health service of the only state run super specialty hospital of the state is sufficient to tell the situation.
“The court during a hearing went on saying that the RIMS director needs to resign if thinks that he is not capable of handling the institute. The Recent letter of Saryu Roy to the chief minister pointing out irregularities in transfer of doctors also exposes the poor man management in the health department,” the lawyer said.
Another health department employee supported the lawyer. “If adequate number of skilled manpower in health institutions of the state had been available cases of patients dying in elevator, women delivering baby on roads unattended, Ayushmaan server getting out of order, doctors fighting with each other, attendant-doctor conflicts had not come,” the health department employee said.
RIMS PRO Dr Rajeev Ranjan could not furnish data regarding the manpower strength saying it will have to be compiled but said ‘effort is on to sort out the issue of payment of security guards and trolley men are on.’
