HC Asks Odisha Govt To Fix Problems At Healthcare Facilities In A Month’s Time

Bhubaneswar: Expressing concern over the condition of healthcare facilities in the state, the Orissa High Court has directed the government to form teams for conducting surprise checks at the district headquarters hospital (DHH), community health centres (CHC) and primary health centres (PHC).

The direction came amid reports about doctors on the rolls remaining absent from hospitals, inadequate staff and nurses at DHH, CHC and PHC, lack of proper hygiene and drinking water and shortage of medicines and ambulances. “At many places, the register for stock of drugs was not properly maintained and no proper information was available in this regard. It is a matter of concern that in many of the facilities, ambulances were not available. These are two basic facilities for any health facility at any level, including PHCs, not to speak of CHCs and DHHs,” the division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik observed after an elaborate hearing on the analysis of the reports submitted by district legal services authorities (DLSAs) on the state of affairs at the government hospitals and health centres.

In many reports from the districts, there are instances of patients being compelled to go to a private facility for medical diagnostic tests. “This is an aspect that requires immediate attention at the hands of the state government,” it further said.

After the special sitting on a holiday for hearing the PIL filed by Chittaranjan Mohanty, a lawyer and social activist, on quality of healthcare facilities in the state in 2018,  the bench set a one-month deadline for the government to take corrective measures. The government has been asked to complete the exercise by the end of July 2022 and submit reports of the teams on or before August 1. The next hearing has been posted for August 10.