Residents of Kathivakkam are irked that the maternity hospital and primary health centre in their area has had no doctor for more than a year now as doctors have not been appointed to fill the vacancies.
Patients who are in desperate need of treatment are forced to either get treated by the nurses at the hospital or travel several km to other medical centres.
Only basic tests such as ECG, blood test, X-ray can be done at the PHC and maternity hospital in Kathivakkam, where maternity facilities are also available.
Everyday, as many as 300 patients visit the hospital, where at least two doctors are needed. However, for the past year, the hospital has been functioning without any doctor. A doctor from Ramanathapuram in Tiruvottiyur visits the hospital once a week.
However, emergency cases and maternity patients are taken to other hospitals for treatment. “By the time we battle through the traffic and reach the hospital in Royapuram it becomes very hectic and we are put through unnecessary mental trauma.
The only other option we have is to be content with the treatment provided by the nurses at the maternity hospital,” lamented Annapoorani, a resident of the area.
Hospital sources claimed that even the arrival of doctors from other hospitals is rare.
A full-time doctor who was appointed for the hospital retired a year ago and since then the government has not filled the vacancy.