Posts of specialist doctor vacant at Himachal’s Thural hospital

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 20

The Civil Hospital, Thural, 26 km from Palampur, situated in the Sulah constituency, is crying for the attention of the authorities.

This is the only hospital in the Changer area which caters to over 50,000 patients every year but it still lacks medical facilities. Around 300 patients visit the hospital daily.

At present, the posts of specialist doctor and paramedical staff are vacant, causing inconvenience to the public.

Information gathered by The Tribune reveals that the state government had upgraded the hospital from 25 beds to 100 beds in 2018 and the posts of doctor were also increased to 14. However, even after four years, the hospital has only 35 functional beds.

The posts of a radiologist and a paediatrician are lying vacant for a long time. Patients requiring ultrasound tests are referred to RP Medical College in Tanda. Ill children are suffering in the absence of a paediatrician and are referred to the Civil Hospital in Palampur or private hospitals.

The ultrasound machine available in the hospital is lying idle for the past one year in the absence of a radiologist. Likewise, the X-ray plant of the hospital has become obsolete and needs replacement.

Sat Pal, panchayat up-pradhan, who is also an Aam Aadmi Party leader, says, “There are no arrangements to cater to emergencies at the hospital. Doctors tell patients to either go to the medical college at Tanda or the Civil Hospital in Palampur. Likewise, most of the accident cases are also not attended to in the hospital. Despite repeated requests, the posts of radiologist and paediatrician have not been filled”.

Local MLA Vipin Singh Parmar, who is also the Speaker of the Assembly, says that he is well-versed with the situation. The new building of the Civil Hospital is under construction, budget allocations have already been made and efforts are on to complete the new complex at the earliest so that 100 beds could be made functional, he adds.

He says that the vacant posts of doctor will be filled as and when a new batch of doctors is available. “Hopefully, by the end of this month, these posts will be filled,” he adds.

Upgraded on paper

• The state government had upgraded the hospital from 25 beds to 100 beds in 2018
• The posts of doctor were also increased to 14
• However, the hospital has only 35 functional beds
• The posts of a radiologist and a paediatrician have been lying vacant since long in the hospital