Inspection reveals poor functioning of CHCs, PHCs

LUCKNOW: When the chief medical officer of Lucknow paid a surprise visit to the community health centre (CHC) in Gosainganj, he discovered that at 9.05 am the CHC superintendent was not on duty. Similar visits to three health establishments revealed how ‘well prepared’ these centres were to receive patients.

When the CMO, Dr GS Bajpayee reached the Gosainganj CHC with other officials, he found the superintendent was still to reach the centre, despite the reporting time being 8 am. Ten other medical staff were also found missing.

A little later, the CMO reached the primary health centre (PHC) in Bakkas only to find it was still closed. The only person around was a class four employee, who was not even trained to assist a patient in case of an emergency. When the health team inspected the various sections of the PHC, they found a multi-purpose worker living in the accommodation provided to the pharmacist posted at this PHC. The latter, however, was not there.

At the Gangaganj PHC, the health team reached at around 9.35 am and found the fire extinguishers were empty.

Health establishments are established at the periphery so that people living in rural areas get treatment near their houses and do not have to rush to city hospitals. This also saved the travel cost for patients and the load on district level hospitals, said a government doctor.

Action against the guilty medical staff is yet to be decided.