Subscribe Now! Get features like

Unlike few other hospitals of the state, which at least have well earmarked budgetary allocations and suitable manpower at their disposal, Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH) in Faridkot, has been subject to a major bureaucratic neglect, resulting in an adverse impact on overall healthcare delivery at this facility.

Sample this: GGSMHS, which caters to seven districts of the south Malwa region of Punjab bordering areas of Haryana and Rajasthan, has a yearly budget of around ₹ 111 crore, out of which ₹ 84 crore is spent on salaries alone. GGSMCH gets ₹ 40 crore grant from the state government and it has an annual income of ₹ 90 crore. However, when compared to the government medical colleges Amritsar and Patiala, which have a yearly budget of ₹ 350 crore and ₹ 250 crore, respectively, GGSMHS’ budget surely needs enhancement.

It may be mentioned that GGSMCH, one of the main health facilities in the south Malwa region, which caters to most beneficiaries, has a pending due of ₹ 9 crore under the Ayushman Bharat – Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojana. Following this, the employees hired under the Ayushman scheme have not got salaries for the last three months. “There was a total of ₹ 16 crore dues under Ayushman scheme, the government has released an amount of ₹ 7 crore recently,” said medical superintendent GGSMCH, Dr Shilekh Mittal.

Daily routine at GGSMCH premises is all about survival through “more from less”. Be it the budget allocation or deputation of manpower and even the non-functional equipment, the hospital is suffering from all ends.

GGSMCH was established in 1973 by the Punjab government. Eight years after the establishment of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) at Faridkot, GGSMCH was converted into a university college in 2006.

As per the data provided by the GGSMCH, there are 149 professors and associate professors on the faculty, 200 clerical staff, 100 paramedics and 236 nurses. The Faridkot medical college offers 125 MBBS and 99 MD/MS seats, with more than 600 students on campus.

However, the patient load compared to staff available in the hospital operations makes it quite difficult to have smooth functions in place. On average, the 1100-bed hospital takes care of over 3,000 patients daily, including 2,000 in OPDs alone and 1000 admitted in the 35 wards of various departments. The hospital has 60 bedded critical care unit with 18 in neurosurgery, 19 in medicine or chest, six in paediatrics and 12 in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Asha Rani, president, Staff Nurses Association of GGSMCH said a single nurse is handling more than 30 patients at the healthcare facility, due to which all patients do not get proper attention. “There are 236 staff nurses and other than us there are 86 nurses hired for covid duty. As per the guidelines, there should be one nurse for three patients, but the GGSMCH has not increased the post to tackle the workload.

Out of the total nurses around 20 are head nurses, who perform clerical work and further more than 30 nurses are engaged in OPDs. The nurses perform duty in three 8-hour shifts, so by this there are only 100 nurses available at the hospital to tackle around 1000 patients admitted in the wards at one time. There are around 900 nurses in Rajindra hospital in Patiala, so if we compare, it clearly shows how officials are hiding behind the lies. There is not even availability of free medicine in the wards, which is provided by the government,” she added.

A professor, on the condition of anonymity, said that due to staff shortage the post-graduate students are put on duties for extended hours. “Even they are made to do clerical work including entries in various departments. Two of my PG students failed last year due lack of practical knowledge because they had to do long duties of data entries. The students are here to learn not to work,” a professor added.

Patients at the receiving end

The patients alleged that medicine is mostly not available at the medical shop in the hospital to give benefits to the private medical shops outside.

Baldev Singh, 57, of Kotkapura, undergoing treatment for diabetes at GGSMCH, said he was having a tough time at this medical facility. “Getting test reports are always a tough task over here, I have to wait for the whole day or even more. I cannot come again and again it is very difficult for me. Today, the doctor wrote some tests and asked us to come back with the reports in the afternoon. I have given a sample seven hours ago but still I have not received reports and even the doctor will be not available now. Now, we have to come back again as the doctor will not be available now. Same test reports are being provided by private labs within a couple of hours outside the hospital,” he added.

Family members of Kavita, 28, a resident of Moga, who is undergoing treatment after facing complications during her delivery, said it has been seven days but her condition has deteriorated day by day. “We have to wait for hours to do payments of the tests as only after getting billing slip, tests are conducted. The medicine prescribed is mostly not available at the medical shop inside the hospital, so we have to buy it from outside at high rates,” a member said.

Most of the toilets and washrooms of the hospital are not properly working. The shortage of support staff also compounds problems as toilets often overflow and unhygienic conditions prevail.

The hospital caters to the south Malwa region, considered the cancer belt of Punjab, but the hospital does not have any Onco surgeon to operate on cancer patients. The hospital is running a 40-bed cancer ward with 200 patients daily OPD, where they are provided radiotherapy and chemotherapy. An official of the Radiology department said due to the slim budget of GGSMCH they often face difficulty. “The total running cost of the department last financial year was ₹ 2.68 crore but we earned ₹ 2.34 crore. Due to this, we had to seek extra funds to fulfil our requirement,” he added.

Not enough technicians, equipment crunch

An official said that there is an acute shortage of radiologists and technicians to operate MRI and CT scan machines. “The machines are also not working regularly, the MRI machine is presently not working and it will take three days in repair. Due to this, patients have to go out to get tested at high rates. There are only seven radiologists at GGSMCH, while in GMC Amritsar and Patiala have 34 and 24 radiologists respectively.

“This hospital has all the problems that infect the medical system. There is an acute shortage of all kinds of modern equipment and operation theatres are also not fully equipped. Staff shortage plagues almost all the departments and with the patient load increasing, the workload is tremendous. The X-ray machine in the emergency is not working, which makes it difficult to deal with emergency cases. Air conditioners are mostly not working in the hospital including MRI labs where temperature must be maintained. There is a shortage of billing counters as patients have to wait for more than two hours to get billing slips for their test,” said a hospital official.

GGSMCH is the only government hospital, which has a neurosurgeon. But due to patient load waiting period for surgeries is quite long. Even the lone Neurologist sees around 250 patients in the OPD daily. It has been learnt, that the waiting period for the surgery at GGSMCH is at least more than one month, while in some departments it is more than two months. As per the record, there is no gastroenterologist and gastro surgeon, further, the hospital is not performing heart surgeries due to the non-availability of a cardiac surgeon.

Further, there is no proper arrangement of waiting areas in the hospital. The attendants of patients are usually seen sitting on the floor at various departments.

Officials pin blame on heavy patient footfall

Medical superintendent GGSMCH, Dr Shilekh Mittal said that as per the sanctioned posts, the medical college has a complete staff. “But the hospital witnesses heavy footfall of patients so following this there are sometimes problems,” he said.

Admitting that there is non-availability of specialised doctors in some departments, he said they have informed the university regarding this and trying to get doctors on-board.

When asked about the shortage of technical staff, he admitted that there are some shortfalls but the authorities are filling all the vacant posts to meet the requirement. Further, he refuted the allegations that patients are asked to get tests done from private labs. “All the machines are working and whenever there is a requirement of replacement or any new equipment, we forward the proposal to the BFUHS. Air condition and some other technical things need continuous maintenance so at some occasion there are problems. But we resolve it at the earliest. Cleanliness is maintained in the hospital and all the facilities are provided to the attendants of patients,” he added.

Parteek Singh Mahal is a multimedia correspondent based at Faridkot in Punjab. He covers medical education, politics and Punjab police. ...view detail

Two held for bid to rape basketball player in Moga, juvenile surrenders

Nine days after an 18-year-old woman suffered multiple injuries after she fell off the roof of a stadium in Moga city while resisting an alleged rape attempt, two accused were arrested by district police on Saturday. Read: Ludhiana BJP leader Bharat Bhushan Sharma thrashed to death by drug addicts The accused were identified as Jatin Kanda of Moga, Ramandeep Singh of Sangrur and a 17-year-old resident of Moga.

Punjab appoints 146 law officers at AG office in Chandigarh

Five months after the Bhagwant Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government took over reins in Punjab, it has notified the appointment of 146 law officers at its advocate general office in Chandigarh. Also read: Punjab and Haryana HC allows Gian Sagar to make BDS course admissions These include 13 senior additional advocates general, 28 additional advocates general, 40 deputy advocates general and 65 assistant advocates general.

Two minor sisters crushed to death by speeding truck in Loni Kalbhor

Two minor sisters were killed and their uncle was seriously injured after a speeding truck hit the motorcycle, they were riding in Loni Kalbhor area in Pune on Saturday morning. The deceased were identified as Gayatri Nandkumar Shitole (17) and Rajashree Nandkumar Shitole (10), while the injured is identified as Pandurang Navnath Bhikshe (42). The driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene after the accident.

Gurugram: Prostitution racket busted at spa centre, manager held

A police raid on Friday exposed a prostitution racket that was being run under the name of a spa centre in Gurugram. The spa centre manager, Yogesh Kumar, has been arrested, police said. Kumar is a resident of Karol Bagh in Delhi. A PTI report said after the raid, two women belonging to the spa centre, located at a mall in Sector 51, were detained, but were released after questioning.

‘Modi vs who in 2024? I tell you…': Sanjay Singh slams BJP after CBI raids

In yet another press conference by the Aam Aadmi Party over the CBI raid on the residence of Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, party MP Sanjay Singh on Saturday alleged that the issue is not about liquor policy in the national capital, but the rising popularity of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. “If that were the case, they would have investigated Gujarat... They are targeting Kejriwal's model for health and education,” Singh said.

Personalise your news feed. Follow trending topics