Mysuru: There are five maternity hospitals in Mysuru but there is a shortage of staff to take care of the patients round the clock. The situation is even worse during night time and the complicated cases are referred to Cheluvamba Hospital due to which every day the number of patients here are increasing. Once the proposed Seth Mohandas Tulasidas Maternity Hospital is upgraded to 100 beds and the district hospital becomes a reality, the pressure on Cheluvamba Hospital will come down.
To cater to the people from different directions, the district health department has set up five maternity hospitals at five separate locations including V V Puram Maternity Hospital, Seth Mohandas Tulasidas Maternity Hospital and Jayanagar Hospital. All the five hospitals are having one or the other problem. Though most of these maternity hospitals are sort of equipped to treat normal delivery patients during night time, all of them are incapable of dealing with complex cases during night time because of lack of staff. If the existing staff works during night time, it can’t attend to patients during the daytime.
Dr. Ramamani , Superintendent, Cheluvamba Hospital, said, “Everyday more number of patients not only from across the district but also from seven different districts come to Cheluvamba Hospital. At an average, everyday more than 400 out-patients are treated at this 410-bedded hospital. The main problem we have is dealing with complicated cases including preterm babies. If it is normal delivery, the patients are discharged in 48 hours but if there are any complications including preterm babies where they need more attention including observation in NICU. Such cases need a minimum of 14 days of hospitalisation where both mother and baby need to stay. Among nearly 1200 deliveries performed every month, 50 percent are complicated cases and 10 percent related to preterm babies. That’s the reason most of the time the beds in the hospital are almost filled and we are finding it difficult to accommodate the patients but still, we are somehow managing. Once the district hospitals become reality, the pressure on Cheluvamba Hospital will be lessened.”
Malathi, Administrator of V V Puram Maternity Hospital said, “Every month, on an average, 35 to 45 deliveries are performed. If there are complicated cases including those of patients with hypertension and diabetes and the ones requiring NICU care like preterm babies are referred to Cheluvamba Hospital. On an average, every month we refer 10 to 15 such cases to Cheluvamba Hospital.”
Somashekar of Seth Mohandas Tulasidas Maternity Hospital said, “Every month, on an average we perform nearly 50 deliveries. For those cases which are complicated and need more attention and better infrastructure, we refer to Cheluvamba Hospital where we have even NICU facilities. We have adequate infrastructure and staffs to deal with patients during the daytime but it’s not the same when it comes to night time. If we all perform at night, we can’t expect our staffs to come to work during the daytime.
V V Puram Maternity Hospital lacks Group D employees
The hospital lacks Group D employees and it also does not have a clerk and data entry operators. According to sources, the administrator herself is a doctor, clerk and even data entry operator. The hospital is very much in need of Group D employees and administrative staff.
Dr. Basavaraj, District Health Officer, said, “Due to the election code of conduct, we were not able to appoint staffs to these hospitals but now it will be taken up and I will also try to visit all of them to know the ground reality and the requirements.”
