The image of Himachal Pradesh’s premier hospital the Indira Gandhi Medical College(IGMC) hospital in Shimla popularly called Snowdon has taken yet another beating after it failed to treat the state’s chief minister P.K.Dhumal this week.
Critics of the hospital say if IGMC cannot treat the state’s chief minister who wasn’t serious by any stretch of imagination and had to be shifted to AIIMS in New Delhi, how can ordinary people from across the state expect relief here.
Dhumal was suffering from urinary tract infection, diarrhea and lung infection which are not seen as serious problems and yet the hospital was not confident enough to take care of him and preferred to refer him to AIIMS instead.
Sources say IGMC the state’s largest and most prestigious hospital gets liberal funding from the state government and has 29 departments including 17 clinical departments, apart from sophisticated, latest diagnosis machinery.
The hospital is often a popular venue for national seminars on health with experts and super specialists gathering here from across the country. Many of the doctors are super specialists trained from the best hospitals in the country and overseas and yet this lack of confidence.
Whether it is run by the BJP or the Congress IGMC comes in for severe criticism for its poor management.
The most mismanaged is the casualty section or the emergency flank which collapses when road accident victims are brought in for treatment.
Due to its mountain terrain road accident deaths are one of the highest in the country in Himachal,added to this is poor medical treatment for such victims.
For so many years the hospital management hasn’t even been able to have the X ray, MRI, CT scan and similar diagnosis machinery and laboratories on the same floor where the emergency patients are brought in.
Currently most of the machinery is on the other end of the sprawling hospital and precious time and energy is often lost in the case of serious patients who have to be wheeled across the crowded buildings for the crucial tests back and forth.
Many say the hospital should stop asking for more privileges and first set its house in order !
In a 20 year career published widely. He has worked for the BBC, AFP, The Statesman, IANS and the Business Standard . Known for his hard hitting writing and occasional off-beat stories. He lives in Shimla.
Excellent Review – An Eye Opener , I hope our CM also reads this one !
If a CM of state can not get satisfactory treatment, just imagine fate of Common Man !
Shame for IGMC – CMO should resign for this failure !
i am a doctor and a doctor can understand what is going on……..the sitiuation of this hospital is created by the govt. itself and not by any other third party………lets put you the example…Mr Virbhadar ex CM got heart attack and our igmc was not fully equipped with cardiology unit…and he than realized that how important is that and started whole unit imidiately and Dr mahanta whi is now chief cardio with fortis Chandigargh was there to start but soon he realized that he is not able to do what he want to do due o lot of limitations and he left the govt. job………Second time when raja ji got heart attack he was rushed to Delhi because dr mahnat was there………….like dr mahanta there are so many fine brain of himachal pradesh is not able to work in HP and no one bother to think why because peoples like netas and money wale rush to bigger hospital and peoples who can afford they keep on running and they keep on waiting to hear from govt. that aaj hum ne 32 ct scan ka order de diya or aaj hum ne itne doctors ki post nikal or public ko bana diya bebkoof…..kam ho gaya…..a doctor start working on average age 26 years …to do post garduation more 3 to 4 years and to do super specialization more 3 years.so but in real scenario a good super specialized doctor start working at 38 to 40 years………after doing so hard studies govt. says you work under rogi kalyan samiti ad you get 35000 rs ……doctors in himachal are divided in to 3 groups RKS appointee , State govt. contract appointee and regular ….they have divided whole system so they can pull each other leg……..if same degree and same kind of work than why disparity ………..Doctors are not human being //////they don’t have family?……………govt. has given node to open 6 private colleges but they are not bothered that from where the doctors will come …..those peoples will pull out the good doctors which are left in govt ……………..this is the starting soon time will come when Govt. hospitals will be left to do experiments with poor peoples and to do documentation work……………..wait and watch
Akshay,
Sad but true. This is where we are heading in HP. Here in US, situation is same. Govt hospitals are nowhere…..Private hospitals have taken over completely. Insurance industry is making money and poor people are on mercy of welfare system. Problem for HP is that we don’t have welfare system, we don’t have that much rich population and industry is nowhere which can financially empower people so that they can afford best facilities. On Himachal govt.’s Public Relations website I see poor people lining in front of Chief Minister every day to get help. What a shame!
Isn’t is same like MAHAJARAJA/ROYAL system?
Darbars are held in many places to fix people’s problem.
PARESHAN JANTA KE DWAR, this is the term govt is using.
Isn’t it that these same people elected these leaders so that they can do smart work and bring best facilities for their constituents.
Right now India’s social sector is financially empowered, central govt is flushing enough money but politicians are trying their level best to corrupt the system so that they can RULE like Royals.
I wonder what changed for India after Independence?
Akshay,
Your points make a valid justification. Politics has crippled the complete system so badly that expecting anything appropriate in any government run institutions is like expecting river in deserts !
It’s a tradition of Himachal doctors to send patients round the state then transfer to PGI. Himachal state medical service is totally fake…..only building of infrastructure. its above to 30 years we are stilll following PGI,
Himachal doctors do not want to take pains for anyone just only to them who has reference. I faced this issue with my parents.
Recently my father was injuired at home, while doing some work, unfortunelty he got cut on left hand, Local Aurvedic hosital senior doctor was unable to stitch the cut,it was minor but they do not know how to take prompt action.
They tranferred my father to Tauni devi, their also they were unable to stitch the cut after which they transferred him to general hospital, they also denied, then he was moved to TANDA.
what was that…….I am very much thankful to TANDA Hospital staff who helped in emergency.
I have a suggestion the health department has to assign targets to every doctor and lower staff that thyey should â€not transfer any patient, there must be written reason what was the cause of transferâ€
(lack of Support staff/lack of doctors/ lack of medical equipment or negligence of doctors and staff.)
for doctors and staff,
Himachal is a hill state and we people have a very tuff life if you guys can give 70% of your calibre we can compete with PGI.
People has trust in doctors.
there must be strict polccy of transfer if there is requirement of some new things bring it to the notice of higher authorties.
Do not send any patient who is not royal, most of people are from middle class families.
It is always good to shift such VVIPs from the State run hospitals to some private and expensive health institutions, like Mr Badal’s (CM) wife remained in Mr Katoch’s US for a long time. But let us not finish the government hospitals in a poor hill State. More than 5000 OPD patients are coming to IGMC every day and thousands are admitted there and even recovering with what so ever facilities..
Surprisingly some of the high ups and State government officers who are seen contacting the senior IGMC doctors for the slightest problems are the biggest advocates and promoters of private hospitals in Shimla. They have become directors and owners of these hospitals and wooing the same IGMC doctors to work for them…the big critics and enemies of less expensive and affordable govt. run health systems..
We are all to blame for the poor healthcare facilities in Himachal. Most of us only find faults with the system when we come face to face with it or when a VIP is involved. Why don’t we ask our government to provide top notch infrastructural facilities at the district level hospitals? If for personal favours from these moronic politicians we are always willing to go that extra mile, then why don’t we do anything about what is good for the society as such? The reasons for the failure of the system are quite obvious. We do not feel the need to take collective responsibility as long as our individual wishes are fulfilled. We turn a blind eye to everything which does not concern us. How many of us are willing to come forward to save an innocent girl from the eve teasers? I am sure not many! We have a tendency to blame everything on the system. Who is the system? It’s us! We are not willing to ask tough questions.
Akshay, I agree with most of the points that you put forth. But, honestly I have not come across that many doctors in Himachal who greet and treat their patients with respect. Most of those who go to government hospitals are poor people. On one hand they do not get good medical treatment, and on the other, the medical staff at most of these hospitals is rude to say the least. Most of the times doctors are found missing from their night shifts. I think the onus also lies on the medical practitioners to improve overall health of the medical system in the state. Many a times patients are referred to Shimla for something that could have been taken care off at the district level if the doctors are more careful and diligent. Shimla is an expensive place to stay. You can imagine what these poor souls have to go through in a place they absolutely know nobody and are complete strangers.
Ofcorse, without government involvement nothing can be done. But looks like our elected representatives have no time for what they have been elected. For the five years they are in power, eithr they are busy going after their opponents or engaged in bending the rules to reap financial benefits. We need some good private investment in healthcare sector in Himachal. It is about time government started working for the people, or else we are heading towards a point of no return
I hope I live long enough to see the day when people are able to get best medical care at district hospitals and are not forced to travel to IGMC or PGI.
All MLA’s spend Lakhs of Rupees every month for their travel needs in their constituencies..Just meeting Village Pradhans..wooing public for their political survival..Faking Inauguration Dramas..wasting crores of Rupees from Public exchequer.
If someone can file RTI for sourcing expenses claimed by our good for nothing MLA’s in last 4 years..it would go in crores. Public needs basic amenities and healthcare, not good for nothing public dramas and rallies organised by parties or politicians at Public cost.
INDIA doesn’t need LOK PAL..INDIA needs a Hunter Rule, maar mar ke Chamdi utar do..jo public funds ka misuse karta hai..In INDIA only Bamboo will work..these discussions won’t yield anything fruitful…public is used to all this and now has become deaf and dumb !
Rajneesh, well said man! Our elected representatives have been and will keep on looting us until we are happy being led by these scum bags. Time has come to ask tough questions and chase them in the streets.
All departments in IGMC follows a predifinend path that is refer the case to PGI Chandigarh or mecdical colledge chandigarh. when ever you visit any big hospital in chandigarh maximum cases refered from shimla . Because of that patient become soure of humer for these doctors and they repetly ask the patinet what doctores are doing in Himachal . There should be another resons like lack of facilities and advancement of techonology should be there . But managent should demand chiefminister suitable time when they came for treatement .
SPAIN PROBLAMS