Koraput: Tension gripped the sub-divisional hospital at Jeypore on Thursday as people who had come for treatment did not find doctors at the outdoor patient (OPD) department and resorted to agitation.

Though the OPD department opened at 8am, till 11am no doctor was available to treat the patients.

"I had brought my 65-year-old mother to the hospital at 9am as she had complained of respiratory problem but there was no doctor at the OPD to treat her. When we enquired about the doctor with the hospital authorities, they could not give any satisfactory answer," said Subhra Sarkar, a resident of Ambaguda.

Geetanjali Behera of Jaya Nagar has a similar experience. She said: "I waited for three hours from 8am for a doctor to seek consultation for my hypertension problem, but there was none. At 11 am I returned home without treatment."

According to the hospital manual, the OPD department runs from 8am to 11am and at least four doctors should be present to attend to patients. However, on Thursday, not a single doctor was present at the OPD.

The patients and their kin then vented ire on the hospital authorities. They shouted slogans against the hospital authorities and resorted to agitation. This forced sub-divisional medical officer (Jeypore) Dadhi Baman Tripathy to come and treat the patients.

"We have acute shortage of doctors and out of it at least four are on leave. Our doctors are treating the OPD patients indoors. Efforts will be taken to ensure that such situation doesn't arise in future," Tripathy said.

While the Jeypore hospital is equipped with 110 beds, hospital authorities say over 250 patients turn up everyday for treatment.