State hospital lacks staff to care for burn victims

On an average, there are four to five new cases of burn injuries daily at the Gandhi Hospital

Seventy per cent of burns patients come to Gandhi Hospital from Nalgonda, Mahbunagar, Medak, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Adilabad districts, since there is no proper infection control unit in the area hospitals in these districts.

Dr A. Subodh Kumar, head of the department of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Gandhi Hospital, said, “Eighty per cent of the burns cases are caused by stove, gas, boiling water and kerosene. These patients are kept in the ward from one month to three months, depending on the severity of their burns. They require different procedures like debriment, skin grafting and flaps and those are very expensive in private hospitals.”

In the districts, the patients get only first aid treatment and are then referred to the tertiary centre for infection control for other procedures.

Which is why, despite there being 59 beds in Gandhi Hospital, there is still always a dearth of beds as the number of patients is very high.

Gandhi Hospital superintendent Dr P. Shravan Kumar said, “On an average there are 4 to 5 new cases of burn injuries on a daily basis. In the year 2016, the unit had a total of 1,500 cases.”

Yet there are challenges as the hospital has a shortage of paramedical staff to do daily dressings for these patients, which helps in faster recovery.

A senior doctor explained, “The proposal of increasing the paramedical staff has been sent to the government as it is required in both critical care and emergency sectors.”

With this high number and with prolonged treatment procedures, accommodating all patients is difficult.

The proposal to develop burns and reconstructive units in the area hospitals of the government has not met with a favourable response.

A senior government officer on condition of anonymity explained, “Units like burns and reconstructive surgeries require highly specialised care and there is a need for full-time doctors and paramedical staff.”

He further adds that the government has to ensure that the doctors are available and willing to stay away from the city in these districts.

Till this challenge is met the burden in the teaching hospitals is going to continue, said government doctors.