Tulasipur, 11 July : The Rapti Provincial Hospital is struggling with the human resource crunch. Started in 2064 BS, the then 50-bed hospital has now been expanded to 200 beds. But, the size of workforce is the same.
As a result of a lack of required workforce, the hospital is lagging behind in providing effective service, said the hospital administration. The hospital’s efforts since two years to add human resources for itself have yet to be fruitful due to various reasons, it added.
The hospital has time and again taken up the matter with people’s representatives. But, solutions have yet to arrive. On Sunday, the Hospital Development Committee Chair Padam Prasad Neupane met with visiting Minister of State for Health and Population Hira Chandra KC and complained about the matter.
Similarly someday ago, representatives of the hospital have also taken up the matter with Minister for Health of Lumbini Province Indrajit Tharu.
“The process for managing human resources for the hospital has started two years ago. Now the related documents have landed in the Office of Chief Minister, it has been heard. We do not know why the documents have been stuck there,” said Neupane.
The documents have to go through the Office of Chief Minister, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance before their passage. So, the process should be completed soon, he said.
Stating that the hospital has been often criticised as a ‘refer hospital’ for its ‘failure’ to deliver effectively, its chief medical superintendent Dr Binod Singh has sought required qualified workforces for its effective service.
The hospital does not have its own separate income sources. So, it cannot add employees on its own, he said. “The hospital offers magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), video X-ray, CT scan and X-ray. The pressure of patients is increasing. But there is a lack of human resources.”
Its efforts to launch ICU service has been thwarted without human resources, said Dr Singh. Minister of State KC has seemed not to be much interested saying that the particular province looks after affairs of the hospital.
“The responsibility of hospital has been allocated. Academy is under the federal government. This hospital is under the provincial government. The provincial government has also done a lot for it. We on behalf of the federal government are committed to do whatever can be done for the hospital,” he however said.
