The Government Wenlock Hospital requires a separate haemodialysis section as the present dialysis section is functioning with a host of problems. It deals with 12 to 13 patients a day with the staff working in three shifts, said Rajashri, its Deputy Resident Medical Officer (RMO).
The dialysis centre should be like an operation theatre, where it was possible to follow the required protocol. Currently, that was difficult due to many reasons. She said the section had been set up in what used to be a small ward. She said, “We are working in a crisis situation . There is shortage of space, we can’t control (follow) the universal protocol.” Working from small quarters was not the only challenge the section faced.
It was also working with staffing problems. At present, there were four to five staff members and they had been employed on contract basis. As they were paid low (Rs. 6000 to Rs. 7000), no one was willing to do the work. The work that should be done by a dialysis technician is currently being done by the hospital staff. She said, “We don’t have a dialysis technician. Our own staff is trained (for managing the dialysis section).”
The section had too few dialysis machines. It currently had four but the need was for 10 machines considering the number of patients who required dialysis.
Besides, the existing machines were outdated, from 2005 and 2006, and had to be manually operated, unlike the new machines that were digital (where processes such as the volume of blood that entered the machine from the body were automated).
