31 operation theatres in govt hospitals non-functional

Of the 183 operation theatres (OTs) in 24 Delhi government hospitals, 31 OTs are non-functional and it will take up to one year to get them all in working order, read a Health and Family Welfare Department report, which was submitted to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently.

The report, which was sent to the CM by Health Minister Satyendar Jain on April 24, was written by the Department’s Principal Secretary, Raajiv Yaduvanshi, on April 2. The report was asked for by Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Jain. It revealed that of the 183 OTs in Delhi government hospitals, 152 were functional and 31 were non-functional.

Shortage of equipment, including anaesthesia work stations, lack of staff and pending civil works by the Public Works Department (PWD) were cited as reasons behind the 31 OTs being non-functional.

Staff shortage

The report said that there were vacancies for specialists in anaesthesia, orthopaedics and surgery. Posts for OT assistant, OT technician and nursing officer were also vacant.

A part of the report, which was written by Director-General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Kirti Bhushan, submitted that civil works were pending in four hospitals: Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, G.P. Pant Hospital, Guru Gobind Singh Government Hospital and Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital.

The timelines for the works to be completed by the PWD ranged from three months to one year. In addition, the DGHS submitted a report that said that as on April 2, 2018, 11 hospitals had a shortage of staff and eight hospitals had shortage of equipment for their OTs.

Kejriwal unhappy

A source close to the Chief Minister said that Mr. Kejriwal reviewed the report on Sunday and was unhappy with the timelines given by the department to get the OTs ready. The source added that the CM is likely to write to the authorities concerned in the next few days.