 |
| JPM Rotary Eye hospital in Cuttack. Telegraph picture |
Cuttack, June 4: Eight senior doctors at J.P.M. Rotary Eye Hospital tendered their resignations yesterday citing lack of adequate infrastructure at the hospital.
The doctors resigned alleging that basic equipment were not being repaired or replaced at the premier institution and this was affecting patient care.
However, hospital managing committee president S. Sudhakar Rao has said the doctors submitted their resignation without giving a prior notice yesterday. Despite the sudden resignations, medical services was not affected and the outpatient department functioned normally.
“Senior doctors have tendered their resignation against the decision of the management to extend the timing of the hospital from 9am to 6pm and the introduction of evening clinic provision from June 1,” said Rao.
The management was forced to extend the functioning time of the hospital keeping in view the outflow of patients at the hospital. However, the doctors have said the decision was taken arbitrarily as they were not consulted on the issue.
At present, 400 patients visit the out patient department of the hospital everyday and there are 14 doctors, including eight senior doctors, to look after the needs of the patients.
“Time and money were not an issue for me. I had resigned owing to lack of initiatives on part of the authorities to improve the existing facilities in the form of equipment and other necessary infrastructure,” said Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra.
“We had been demanding adequate equipment for diagnosis and treatment, which are essential for the growth of the hospital and to provide better services to the patients. Many doctors had also left without serving a notice and I had not signed any service agreement before or after joining the hospital,” said Dr Devi Ashwarya Das.
The J.P.M. Rotary Eye hospital was established in 1992. It now conducts more than 16,000 surgeries every year.
Recently, the hospital established a state-of-art paediatric eye care centre, the first of its kind in eastern India, with an investment of Rs 1.5 crore.