MLA Manoj Manzil’s Investigative Visits to BIMHAS and Other Hospitals in Bhojpur
Manoj Manzil, CPIML MLA from Gadhani in Bhojpur has consistently been raising the issue of poor plight of health services in Bihar. While his observations have made a mark in the public health discourse in the state, the effective improvement in the government run hospitals to a substantial level is yet to be seen. Thank to his consistent activism that some very meager changes are visible inside the hospitals particularly in his constituency in favour of common patients who see him a savior in difficult times. Comrade Manoj Manzil’s regular presence in hospitals helping patients as well as doctor and nursing staff has set new norms for how an elected people’s representative should serve ones constituents.
He used to regularly visit hospitals and related facilities in order to improve the otherwise disappearing public health services. On September 19 he visited the only mental health facility of Bihar, the Bihar Institute of Mental Health and Allied Sciences (BIMHAS) in Koilvar of Bhojpur to inquire about the state of services being given to patients. Astonishingly this reputed hospital is run on less than minimum staff with medicines in highly inadequate quantities and without a regular appointed Director.
Manoj Manzil will soon meet the state health minister to apprise him of this plight. He will raise this issue inside the Bihar Assembly.
In BIMHAS posts are vacant for one clinical psychiatrist, four general physicians, four posts of general duty officers and 30 GNMs. This hospital has one less pharmacist while five posts of computer operators are also vacant. Moreover, there are no regular staff for kitchen, cleaning, sanitation and laundry work. These jobs are being performed through Jeevika staff which is highly undesirable in view of quality of cleanliness and health of patients. The food being served mainly constitutes a watery daal and potato and soya flakes and no green vegetables. There is only one worn out ambulance which usually remains nonfunctional. This 85 bed hospital has only two toilets.
This hospital is being run with temporary Director and Superintend where patients are forced to buy many medicines from the market. Nearly a dozen different essential medicines were not available and patients not able to afford to buy meds leave treatment in the middle.
This supposedly big facility doesn’t even have its own pathological testing lab and patients are sent for test to the nearby PHC or Sadar hospital which is cumbersome and wastes lot of precious time hampering patients’ wellbeing.
CPIML Politburo member Swadesh Bhattacharya along with senior AICCTU leader RN Thakur and local activists accompanied Manoj Manzil in this investigation.
Hospital in Gadharni
Comrade Manoj Manzil had visited hospital in Gadhani last year which was almost non-functional at that time. This issue was raised by him in the Vidhan Sabha after that a government appointed team visited the hospital and supply of medicines was ensured. This was the first time when any political party had raised such an issue inside the State Assembly. The consistent follow ups wore some result and last month state Dy CM and Health Minister Tejaswi Yadav made a visit to the same hospital on 9 Sept. followed by inauguration of a new ward by the CM and Dy CM on 16 September.
Agiaon Hospital
There was no ambulance in Agiaon hospital. The doctors generally never turn up on duty during nights and serious job like delivery are done by ANMs, duties of general physicians are performed by Aayush doctors and even by dentists. Medicines are always scarce and medical superintendent most of the time is not found on duty. There were many anomalies in the Attendance register of the hospital. The security staff has not been paid their wages for last 7 months, and they are made to sign on pay slip for Rs. 10000 while only 5500 is being paid.
Charpokhari Hospital
Manoj Manzil along with his team visited this hospital during night hours. The hospital was run with only one doctor and one GNM, ANM and a dresser. This hospital has no gynecologist, also lacks eye specialist, dentist, orthopedic and pediatric doctors. There is no emergency ward, neither x-ray and ultrasound facility. The pharmacy inside hospital campus keeps costly branded meds while they are supposed to prefer generic medicines. The labour room runs with only one fan, one ordinary bulb where deliveries during night time are performed by limited staff.
Earlier Manoj Manzil had provided one ambulance, 20 oxygen cylinders, monitors, water purifiers, desert cooler etc from his MLA fund for this hospital.
Ara Sadar Hospital
The visit to Ara Sadar Hospital was made on 2 September. CPIML Ara medical incharge Dina ji and Sanjay Sajan accompanied Manoj Manzil. They visited many wards during night time only to find inadequate staff in face of large number of patients present at that time. Many patients were referred to other hospitals because of nonavailability of blood in the blood bank. The blood bank does not have an air conditioner which is an essential requirement. The ICU was locked and radiology department doesn’t work during nights. OT lights are absent inside operation theaters. Only one technician handles pathology lab where many important tests are not done. Number of hospital beds needs to be increased as many are sent back owing to this reason only.
Death by Negligence during Child Birth in Ara Sadar Hospital
Gudia Devi died during child birth in Ara Sadar Hospital on 20 Sep allegedly because of utter negligence of hospital staff. The doctor on duty was absent when some complication arose during the delivery at 10 am. She perhaps needed a cesarean operation but in absence of doctor, died a painful death. Manoj Manzil and Terari MLA Sudama Prasad along with Shobha Mandal reached out to the family of deceased and helped them file FIR in the police station. They also talked to the DM and SP for taking appropriate action against the erring hospital staff. Manoj Manzil visited the hospital next day to inquire about the details. He met senior doctors and staff nurses who agreed to hold a proper inquiry into the incident.
He has complained to the health minister of doctors who run their private clinics and remain absent from duty.
Manoj Manzil also investigated few more hospitals. He said that during last two decades government hospitals have been deliberately left without resources to favour private hospitals. The very basic facilities like BP instruments, X-ray machines, Ultrasound, path labs and even essential medicines are severly lacking adversely impacting lives and health of poor and needy. During Covid pandemic private hospitals made fortunes from poor patients in absence of proper public health services.
He said that government must work towards the improvement of public health with all sincerity and sensitivity. At a time when central government is prioritizing private sector, Bihar government must fill all vacant posts in hospitals and provide adequate medicines to protect people’s right to Health.
