Assam: Doctor shortage plagues rural areas of Lakhimpur
All the five posts of Senior Medical and Health Officers are currently lying vacant in Telahi Model Hospital at Panigaon
North Lakhimpur, June 13: Several posts of doctors are lying vacant in the rural hospitals of Lakhimpur district, adversely affecting healthcare services.
The worst-affected hospital with the highest number of vacancies is the Telahi Model Hospital at Panigaon, around 10 km away from here.
Situated at Bosagaon in Panigaon, the Telahi Model Hospital, which was inaugurated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, has been running without the allotted number of doctors, as a result of which around 1.5 lakh people in the area, mostly from the ST and SC communities under Telahi and Kamalabaria Mauza, are deprived of essential health services.
There have been two posts of Medical and Health Officers (M&HO) lying vacant in the hospital for the last three years. Moreover, all five posts of Senior M&HOs are also lying vacant in the hospital.
Consequently, the Deputy Superintendent has to take care of hundreds of patients who visit the model hospital. Similarly, only one Community Health Officer is rendering services to the patients, which speak volumes about the state of affairs in the Telahi Model Hospital.
Due to the prevailing situation in the hospital, people are forced to travel several kilometres to the Lakhimpur Medical College and Hospital at North Lakhimpur for treatment.
Lack of doctors has also affected the healthcare services in the 30-bed Nowboicha Rural Hospital (BPHC) in Lakhimpur district. Four of the six sanctioned posts of M&HOs at the hospital have been lying vacant.
The hospital is supposed to cater to around two lakh people from the 17 gaon panchayats of Nowboicha. Currently, the hospital is being run by a paediatrician and a newly appointed doctor, besides the Sub-Divisional M&HO and the Deputy Superintendent. Due to the shortage of doctors, these rural hospitals have failed to cater to the needs of patients.
Meanwhile, an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis was reported in Lakhimpur. So far, 27 people have shown symptoms of JE, of whom three have been diagnosed with the disease. Most of the affected persons are children.
