Vijayawada: Cardiology wing lacks equipment, doctors

Vijayawada: The cardiology department in the government hospital, Vijayawada, lacks both necessary equipment and required staff. At present, Vijayawada is also a part of the Capital area, but it lacks basic facilities like healthcare. Everyday about 100 heart patients visit the government hospital in the city but there is only one doctor to treat them. There is one senior assistant, employed on a temporary basis, whose schedule will end in a month.

There is only one echo machine in the department which is left to rust in one corner due to lack of a technician. The cardiac wing is an important segment in any hospital as any small problem in the heart can lead to the death of the patient but in the government hospital, this wing is the most neglected. Cardiac patients might need a surgery/operation but there is no surgeon available at the hospital.

As cardiac problems can even lead to death of the patients, even the poor are rushing to private hospitals in cities, like Hyderabad, with a belief that the staff and doctors will take maximum care to save the patient. Some staff members, of the lower-rung in the hospital, are also guiding the poor to visit specific private hospitals, on commission basis.

There is no equipment to identify if the patients have a gastric trouble, which is usually mistaken as heart attack, or any ailment in the heart. The private hospitals are collecting anything between Rs 30,000 to Rs 12 lakh for arranging stents  in the hearts. The government officials and ministers say state facilities are for the poor but without sufficient doctors and necessary equipment, they fail to serve the needy. There are no expert surgeons too in the wing.

The medical and health department has to appoint one professor, two associate professors, two assistant professors, 20 staff nurses. “The superspeciality block is getting ready with fully-equipped cath lab, surgery department and qualified doctors,” said Dr. Chakradhar, superintendent,  Government Hospital, Vijayawada. He accepted there is only one assistant professor. “The echo machine is not functioning properly. It will be repaired very soon,” he said.