Cardiology Department at Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) here is in dire need of more surgeons and high-end equipment as the number of inpatients handled by it has increased at an alarming rate which has, in turn, led to more patients being put on long wait for surgeries.
According to data provided by the GRH, the department handled about 6,000 inpatients per year until 2014. The number suddenly jumped to 14,237 in 2015. But the number of surgeons in the department remained eight.
N. Dhanasekaran of Ellis Nagar, who had accompanied his wife for treatment at the GRH, said he was making visits to the hospital for nearly a month even to get diagnosis completed.
A senior doctor said only the minimum number of doctor posts as stipulated by Medical Council of India (MCI) was sanctioned. “The MCI fixes the number of doctors based on the strength of medical students. However, it provides an option for the hospital to increase the number depending upon patient inflow. However, this is never done,” he claimed.
While general increase in cardiology-related ailments among people is cited as one of the reasons for the sharp rise in number of inpatients, doctors said referrals from surrounding districts was another important factor.
“While there is an acute shortage of cardiac surgeons at the GRH, many government hospitals in neighbouring districts do not even have a single cardiologist,” said a doctor.
Another problem was that the GRH was not being used as a tertiary care hospital alone.
“In States like Kerala, tertiary care hospitals are used strictly for complex referral cases. But people come to the GRH even for minor ailments,” he said.
“While they certainly cannot be denied treatment, a general outpatient ward with doctors should be established to screen them first,” he said.
C. Anandaraj, a health rights activist from Madurai, said that the problem should be addressed in a holistic manner.
“There is certainly a need for more doctors. But the government primary and secondary care hospitals should also be strengthened so that people from all the southern districts need not come to the GRH,” he said.
When contacted, Dean M.R. Vairamuthu Raju said the hospital had already written to the government to sanction more doctors for Cardiology Department, and it expected a positive reply soon.
