The Thamarassery Taluk hospital was a scene of chaos on Monday with only two doctors to attend to 750 people who turned up for consultation.
The hospital, the only one in the government sector on the National Highway stretch between Vythiri, in Wayanad district, and the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode.
It was raised from the status of a Community Health Centre (CHC) to a taluk hospital in 2000. There were eight doctors in total.
On Monday, four were on leave. One was on night duty and another on theatre duty.
From morning, there was a long queue in front of the out-patient (OP) counter for tickets. Then there was another long queue for consultation and yet another for purchase of medicines. Quite a number of people had fever. Some survived but others grew weak and collapsed.
“This was a temporary situation that was unavoidable and not a regular feature,” District Medical Officer (DMO) P.K. Mohanan said. “There are nine doctors in the hospital, of which one has been transferred and the replacement has not yet joined. On Monday, two of the doctors had an UPSC examination to attend and hence they were on leave. Another was on leave as his child was unwell. Yet another was off duty as he just completed his night duty,” Dr. Mohanan said.
“The Superintendent of the hospital has been asked to ensure that such situations do not arise,” the DMO said.
The Health Department has scheduled an interview for doctors on June 26 so that the vacancies could be filled, not in Thamarassery alone but in other hospitals as well, he said.
The DMO denied reports that Malaria was spreading in the region.
“As of now, there is no epidemic situation in Kozhikode district. The number of dengue cases is slightly higher than last year, but not in epidemic proportions,” he added.
