The Asian Age: New Delhi: Sunday, September 17, 2017.
The primary
health centre in Southeast Delhi’s Lal Kuan area is cramped with poor
ventilation. By the looks of it, the centre cannot accommodate more than 20-25
patients at a time. But the staff says that at any given day, there are
hundreds of patients who come for check-up.
A mohalla
clinic was opened last year at the nearby Pul Prahladpur area, which is barely
2 km from the primary health centre (PHC). However, it has not contributed in
reducing the footfall at the PHC.
When the
mohalla clinic was opened, some of the staff from the nearby PHCs, including
this one, was transferred there, leaving a shortage of staff at these centres
as no new recruitments were done here.
According to
an RTI reply, in at least six districts in Delhi, staff such as doctors,
auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), pharmacists, etc., were transferred from PHCs
and dispensaries to these mohalla clinics without deploying any new people at
these centres.
The RTI query
was filed by NGO Matri Sudha and had asked data from all the 11 districts in
the city, but received figures only for six. Arvind Singh, working with NGO
Matri Sudha, said that even as the concept of mohalla clinics is unique, in
some areas they have disturbed the functioning of the already existing health
care services.
A case in
point is the mohalla clinic at Pul Prahladpur area, which at present is
operating like a pharmacy. The people who come here are often referred to the
PHC in Lal Kuan or the one in Meethapur Extension. Even the single blood
pressure apparatus given to this clinic is not working for the last two months.
“Yes, it was
advertised that tests will be done but they haven’t started yet. Even basic
tests are not being done and we have to send the patients to either
dispensaries or nearby PHCs. We thought of doing tests for diabetes, but we don’t
have bio-waste disposal facilities. In fact, there is no water supply here for
the past ten days,” said a staffer of the mohalla clinic.
Doctors
working in the PHCs say that these centres are being ignored and instead of
opening new mohalla clinics, the government should have first focused on
improving the facilities here and in the dispensaries.
“Ideally we
should be conducting HIV tests also. But there is no proper disposal and
drainage system. Without it, we run the risk of infecting the entire
population,” a doctor working at a PHC in Northeast Delhi said.
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