Neglect of Cherooppa health centre: march to medical college principal office on Monday

Functionaries of the Mavoor Grama Panchayat and the management committee of the health centre at Cherooppa will take out a protest march to the office of the principal, Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, on Monday against the alleged neglect of the only health facility in their area.

Functionaries of the Mavoor Grama Panchayat and the management committee of the health centre at Cherooppa will take out a protest march to the office of the principal, Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, on Monday against the alleged neglect of the only health facility in their area.

T. Ranjith, president of the panchayat, told The Hindu on Sunday that the health centre had been functioning for 24 hours under a dual control system. Outpatient (OP) services are controlled by the District Medical Officer under the Directorate of Health Services and the in-patient services and surgeries by the Government Medical College Hospital under the Directorate of Medical Education. There was a time when around 30 house surgeons worked there. After the murder of Vandana Das, a house surgeon at the Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital in Kollam district, last month, the services of house surgeons deployed there were stopped.

This was based on a government order cancelling their night shift duty in rural hospitals until a safety audit is performed. Supervision by a medical officer was made mandatory for the night shift duty of house surgeons. The hospital does not have a medical officer at night and closed-circuit cameras that are mandatory requirements for 24x7 services.

This led to the suspension of the round-the-clock service in the only public health facility used by residents of Mavoor and nearby Chathamangalam, Peruvaya and Perumanna panchayats in Kozhikode and Vazhakkad in the adjacent Malappuram district. The OP service was closed at noon.

Mr. Ranjith claimed that even earlier, the authorities had been neglecting the facility and their pleas to improve the services. The road to the health centre is in a bad shape and the buildings on the six-acre plot are in a dilapidated condition. Health grants worth lakhs of rupees from the Centre are getting lapsed.

This forced the panchayat to begin a sit-in outside the centre on June 13. After a round of deliberations with the authorities, it was decided to extend the OP services till 6 p.m. The medical college hospital also decided to appoint an associate professor as an officer to implement various schemes for the centre, and two house surgeons. The District Medical Officer (DMO) is supposed to appoint an assistant surgeon.

However, Mr. Ranjith said their agitation would continue till the restoration of the 24x7 services. “If the medical college cannot run the centre, it should be handed over to the Directorate of Health Services,” he added.