Dhenkanal kidney patients at Covid mercy

DHENKANAL:  Patients suffering from kidney ailments and those on dialysis are in double jeopardy. In absence of a nephrologist in the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) in Dhenkanal, the helpless patients are forced to visit health facilities at Cuttack and Bhubaneswar to seek consultation or medical help, thereby exposing themselves to the risk of Covid-19 in the midst of a raging pandemic.

The post of nephrologist has been vacant in the DHH for last one and half years. The lone nephrologist was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital and ever since, the vacant position has not been filled up. Although there are 10 dialysis machines in the DHH, they are managed by technicians who perform the process. And in severe cases, doctors of DHH refer the patients to Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

According to reports, there are 200 patients who undergo dialysis in the DHH and private hospitals and there are over 5,000 people with kidney ailments in the district. A majority of the patients are dependent on the DHH. Under the current circumstances, those who have to undergo dialysis depend on the hospitals of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar and people with kidney ailments are forced to visit private hospitals where doctors from the Twin City come once or twice a week to provide consultation.

“I have been consulting a doctor of SCB MCH who comes to a private hospital here. He charges `400 per consultation but whenever I call him during an emergency, he never answers”, said Akash Nayak, a patient. Another dialysis patient Iswar Chandra Sahoo who suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhoea last month had to run around Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to get treatment.

“When I went to the DHH, they referred me to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar. As there was no bed, the AIIMS doctors referred me to SCB Medical but I did not want to go there because of the Covid situation. Subsequently, he contacted a nephrologist at Cuttack who suggested that he be admitted to a private hospital there for two days”, he said.

After spending over Rs 14,000 in the facility and undergoing treatment, Sahoo returned to Dhenkanal.
Besides a nephrologist, the DHH lacks a pulmonologist. Collector Bhumesh Chandra Behera said he has informed the Health department about the vacancies but there has been no response yet.