The entrance to a health dispensary managed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, and (above) unused beds inside a ward. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 1: Poor infrastructure and staff shortage has hit the functioning of dispensaries run by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The five dispensaries at Gadakana, GGP Colony, Brahmeswarpatna, Bharatpur and Sundarpada are functioning under the Municipal Corporation Hospital, Old Town.

The dispensary at Gadakana is functioning without regular power and drinking water supply. The situation is so bad that both the staff members and the patients coming to the dispensary have to fetch water from a nearby tube-well.

Staff of the dispensary revealed that it was drawing electricity illegally by throwing hooks on the overhead wires. “The anti-power theft squad may come anytime and disconnect the power supply to the dispensary. But till then, at least one bulb and a fan can run in the doctor’s room. No other room here has a bulb or fan in working condition,’’ said a staff member.

While the doors and windows are also in poor condition, adequate medicine stocks are not available.

“We are unable to provide medicine to people even for common cold. The refrigerator in the dispensary is also not functioning,” he added.

The area’s ward councillor, Madan Majhi raised the problems of Gadakana Dispensary at the BMC council meeting here on Friday. He alleged that since staff quarters were not available, doctors do not turn up on time and serious patients and pregnant women have to go to the Capital Hospital for treatment.

“Often we have to wait for a long time before the doctor arrives. Sometimes we also have to return without meeting the doctor,” said Nityananda Sahu, a villager.

The BMC dispensary at Gada Gopinath Prasad (GGP) Colony, on the other hand, is unable to make the best possible use of the extra ward with six beds. Similarly, a 10-bed ward at the Brahmeswarpatna dispensary is also lying unutilised. Medical officers said that the new wards could only function when required number of doctors and paramedics were available.

Medical officer at Gadakana dispensary Simantini Rout said the chamber of the lady doctor has no curtain or door screen and the prevailing infrastructure does not provide any privacy to the patients. She said that the chief medical officer, who recently visited the dispensary, has promised to set things in order.

A senior staff of the GGP Colony dispensary admitted that beds donated by a local resident were yet to be put to use.

“This dispensary has treated 88,000 people in the last three years. But now, we need an extra medical officer to share the workload. We also need a pathological laboratory here. We have written to the concerned authorities for the supply of instruments for surgical operations. But, there has been no response so far,” he said.

The boundary wall of the GGP Colony dispensary is also in a bad condition. Medical officer Natabara Biswal said: “I am new to the hospital and I have to see records to know all the details.”