Childs death exposes unhealthy trend

CUTTACK: The death of Sreejit Das (3) in an illegally functioning nursing home on Thursday night has exposed the extent of inefficiency and corruption that has macerated the district health administration. Cuttack, the health hub of the State, has started on a dangerous slide. Dubious illicit institutions in the name of nursing homes and diagnostic centres have mushroomed across the city, luring patients to their ill-equipped facilities and putting lives in danger.The case of the Jagannath Nursing Home and Research Centre is a glaring instance of the morass that has set in. The nursing home has been functioning for over three years from a rented house at Professorpara and had not even bothered to apply for registration under the Clinical Establishments Act. It has got no licence from the Cuttack District Medical Officer (CDMO) but has been functioning openly, soliciting patients to its fold. What is intriguing is that a “crackdown” had been launched by the CDMO only around two years back on illegal clinical establishments here. But it had failed to detect this very nursing home which has not only in-patient wards but also claimed to conduct sophisticated operations such as plastic surgery. The list of 261 clinical establishments in Cuttack district does not even have any mention of this medical facility. According to sources, this is just the one among hundreds of dubious establishments that have sprung up across the lanes and bylanes of the city. They function from small rented premises and lure patients from the Government medical institutions such as SCB Medical College and Hospital through touts engaged by them by offering them promises of better treatment and care. In fact, they do not have empanelled doctors in different specialities and approach the professionals as per needs nor they have basic minimum infrastructure or personnel. These establishments have flourished in connivance with the unscrupulous elements in the district health administration. They are allowed to function after paying commissions and cuts to the officials in the administration, sources said. “There is a well-oiled racket in operation. As the cut money and commission flow in, the administration authorities keep silent notwithstanding the fact that the lives of hundreds of people are in danger. The allegation of kidney theft only exposed the illegality of the nursing home. Otherwise, it would have been functioning now like others. The death count caused by these shoddy facilities is also not known,” secretary of the Orissa Medical Services Association (OMSA) Dr KC Mishra said while demanding a thorough probe into the functioning of the CDMO and its staff. The failure of the CDMO in monitoring and regulating the clinical establishments has also been acknowledged by the Government. “The CDMO is required to hold continuous inspection of the establishments and issue notices to them or initiate action for their de-registration or shutdown”, the State Supervising Authority on Clinical Establishments and DMET Prof PK Das said. On the other hand, sources have also held the State Health and Family Welfare Department responsible for the present situation, which has “conveniently overlooked the gross disobedience of the present CDMO  Manorama Dei to the former’s repeated orders for transferring staff, who have been posted at places beyond stipulated tenure.” This has to be probed and the house set in order, a senior administration official said.