Healthcare workers take a break at the a Quarantine centre. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal) Rekha Potinda (36), a resident of Kayri village in Palghar’s Jawhar taluka, was pregnant with her fifth child. A few days before her delivery date, she started having labour pain in October 2021. Bleeding, she was rushed to Sakharshet Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), about 10 to 12 km from her village. The PHC referred her to the Jawhar sub-district hospital, which, in turn, referred her to Nashik district hospital – 150 km away. By then, it was too late. “She bled for hours while we took her from one place to another. She died on her way to the district hospital…so did her baby,” said Rekha’s cousin Vishal Mangesh Dabre.
This is not an isolated incident in Maharashtra.
A series of pleas filed by The Indian Express under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed that while the state has 1,839 functional PHCs, most do not have adequate staff — one-third of the sanctioned posts in PHCs are vacant.
As on December 31, 2021, of the 21,496 sanctioned posts for healthcare workers in PHCs, 7,507 or 35 per cent were lying vacant. PHCs had a shortfall of 337 or 8.34 per cent doctors against the 4,036 sanctioned posts. This was in sharp contrast to 2005, when all the 3,157 doctor posts were filled. Consequently, the pressure on government hospitals in rural areas is high, leading to long waiting time, poor patient satisfaction, and an increase in dependence on private healthcare.
Also, most PHCs don’t have specialist doctors. The medical officers in most of the centres are either brought on contracts for 9-10 months or are Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) doctors.
As per the guidelines of the state public health department, a PHC should consist of 15 staffers, including cleaning and ambulance services which are contracted out.
According to a survey by NGO Jan Arogya Abhiyan (JAA) in 17 districts of the state last July, there was only one permanent medical officer in half (51 per cent) of the surveyed PHCs.
The RTIs filed by The Indian Express has further revealed that the state has a 13 per cent shortfall of sanctioned PHCs. Data showed that of the 2,116 sanctioned PHCs, 277 are yet to be constructed. Also, of the 11,496 sanctioned sub-centres that come under PHCs, 823 or 7.15 per cent are yet to be established.
In fact, many existing PHCs do not function due to a shortage of staff. For instance, Nandgaon T Manor PHC was established in 2006-07 with Rs 4.88 lakh. But it opens only twice a week to immunise newborn babies. Due to this, other patients are forced to travel 4-6 km in a medical emergency.
Forty-year-old Krishna Kurara, a farmer, said they have to travel 4 km to Durvesh PHC even for a check-up.
Likewise, 63-year-old Shidava Chintya Kadu has been fighting oral cancer since 2019. This resident from Barhanpur village in Palghar has already spent
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