John Wilbert and Rabhindranath Biswas
Port Blair, Sept 25: The report of non-availability of Nursing Staff/Officers in Urban Health Centres (UHCs) at many places in Port Blair has emerged.
As per report, the patients who are visiting Urban Health Centres (UHCs) in the Port Blair areas are facing hardship to get administered the prescribed injections due to the non-availability of nursing staff .
The General Public alleges that UHCs are in an aggravating state due to lack of sufficient staff like Ward Boys and Nurses. Patients allege that the Nurses of these UHCs are engaged in other areas and as a result of which they are deprived of the service of the nurses for the last 2 years. Even in some areas patients have been seen to write the OPD slips on their own, while it has been observed that in few cases the doctors often bunk in the evening time in most of the UHCs.
As per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health, a Staff Nurse should be posted in each UHC. Furthermore, it is learnt that sometimes ANMs are performing the duties of a Staff Nurse such as administering an injection to the patient while these ANMs are not authorised to push injections to the patient.
Besides, ANMs’ field works assigned to them are severely hampered as they have to manage the duties of a Staff Nurse as well. “Due to the indifferent and adamant attitude of the top officials, the patients are suffering a lot who are visiting UHCs for availing treatment. They are deprived of the benefits of UHCs and are forced to approach GB Pant Hospital for injection & IVs,” rued a resident of Haddo.
The general public and patients have urged the Administration to look into the matter on a serious note so as to resolve the issues of the non-availability of Staff Nurses in UHCs of Port Blair.
However, Mohammed Ismail State Program Manager NHM and NRHM when contacted, told Andaman Sheekha Daily that as of now sufficient staff have been posted at UHCs and also revealed that, owing to constraints thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic, some staff were assigned with works in vaccination camp at other places and in urban area requirement to combat the wrath of the situation, but now staff nurses have been working in UHCs in adequate numbers and there is no plan of shifting them from UHCs and engage them in other tasks.
