Milon Mondal

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Nearly 4 hundred thousand people depend on Rudrapur Rural Hospital, North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal, for medical emergencies and treatments. The Community Correspondent Milon Mondal went there to find out about the amenities and talk to the patients, doctors and the locals about the amenities of this 60 bedded Hospital. 

He could easily see that the rural hospital needs an upgrade. He pointed out many issues while talking to the patients and the doctors.

There, the X-ray and ECG (ElectroCardiogram) machines are almost defunct. Pregnant women and elderly, serious patients are needed to be carried through stairs. Installing a Lift will greatly help people from this hardship. The Doctor’s schedule can be put up in prominent places of the Hospital so that the patients do not have to wait for long hours. 

There is an irregular supply of drinking water, most of the time the patients have to buy water from outside. There is no provision for patients' kin to rest, or accompany the patients in the wards. In a hospital, the toilets need to be hygienic and clean, which is sadly missing here, the doctors mentioned it is due to lack of cleaning staff. Even the boundary wall of the hospital is breaking in a few places.

Number of doctors is less to cater to this huge population. The prescribed medicines have to be brought from outside, as this hospital has a negligible supply of medicines. This Hospital caters to people from nearby villages, most of them are daily wage workers - it is a burden on them to buy medicines from outside. Generally Government hospitals have provisions for free medicines. 

The Operation Theatre is non functional, as there are no anaesthesiologists. A fully functional Operation Theatre is a necessity in any hospital. The anaesthesiologist post was filled in recently but the said person has not joined the rural hospital. One gynaecologist also has been appointed.

Accommodations are available for Doctors and Nurses but only a few stay there. The Doctors quarters are in a bad shape, that is a reason for them to avoid staying there. 

The Doctors are hopeful that the situations will change, they are repeatedly requesting about these lack of facilities to their superiors. They say they are doing as much as they can with the limited amenities in this rural hospital. Hope sharing of this video will put pressure on the Health Department to expedite this process of upgrading this rural hospital of Rudrapur, West Bengal, India.