ICU status

December 21, 2005: Inaugurated by the health minister

Number of beds: 14

Sanctioned staff strength: 20 (5 doctors + 5 nursing staff + 5 general duty attendants + 5 sweepers)

Recruitment: Nil

Malda, Jan. 19: Health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra has called for an explanation from the superintendent of Malda District Hospital, Maniklal Das, about why the intensive care unit (ICU) in his hospital is not functioning.

Mishra and principal health secretary Kalyan Bagchi paid a surprise visit to the hospital last evening and found the ICU closed. Zilla parishad sabhadhipati Gautam Chakraborty and district magistrate Chittaranjan Das also accompanied them.

The ICU, which was opened more than one year ago by the minister himself, had closed down within a day or two and since then modern gadgets worth several lakhs of rupees have been gathering dust. The unit had been opened next to the surgical ward.

When Das told the minister that the ICU could not be run due to a shortage of staff, the minister enquired about the number of employees working in the hospital. When Das replied 160 staff worked in the hospital, he was told by a frowning health secretary that the staff strength was “more than enough” for the purpose. Under pressure, the superintendent then assured Mishra and Bagchi that he would reopen the unit within 15 days.

The minister also pointed to several other instances of mismanagement in different wards of the hospital. For instance, Mishra wanted to know why the doctors there were prescribing medicines sold by multinational companies instead of those scheduled for patients in government hospitals.

The minister even seized the prescriptions of two patients and gave it to Bagchi. He also rebuked the superintendent for the “casual approach” adopted in the hospital.

“I do not understand why patients are not getting medicines when we are spending lakhs of rupees for this purpose. We have paid an additional amount of Rs 25 lakh for buying medicines in this hospital,” the minister said.

Mishra instructed the district magistrate to visit the hospital at regular intervals to monitor the developments. He criticised the role played by the district health committee. He also instructed the hospital authorities to employ ex-servicemen to man the main gates of the hospital.