Lack of modern equipment depopularises Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital; govt to step up govt hospitals' services.
Considered the top eye hospital in AP, the Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital is fast losing its popularity after being ignored by the government.
The prestigious eye hospital is known for its excellence in conducting eye operations, but the problems it faces are mounting, and fingers seem to point at the government.
The recent incident, in which a case of corneal grafting was referred to L V Prasad Eye Hospital after the surgery could not be performed at this premier hospital, is an indicator of the government's negligence to keep the hospital abreast with the latest technology.
The patient had to cough up Rs. 25,000 as fee to the private hospital for the operation.
This case was referred by the health minister, D L Ravindra Reddy, as the same operation could not be done at the S D hospital.
The minister, speaking to media persons at the Secretariat on Monday, clarified that the S D Eye Hospital's glory will be revived shortly.
The government is planning to improve the services in the government hospitals, along the lines of Tamil Nadu government hospitals, he said.
A team will soon visit Tamil Nadu to study the government hospitals working there, he informed. The minister admitted that the Tamil Nadu hospitals were accountable to the government, unlike the hospitals of Andhra Pradesh.
The functioning of the Rajiv Gandhi Institutes of Medical Sciences (RIMS) will be stepped up as the government is serious about the issue, he stated.
Reddy said that as part of the program, the government released Rs. 44 crore for RIMS on Monday. Besides the existing RIMS in Kadapa, Srikakulam and Adilabad, another RIMS will be set up in Ongole by next year, he stated.
CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy is expected to lay the foundation stone for a government general hospital at Nizamabad. The government is also serious about setting up another hospital at Erragadda, near Sanathnagar, to meet the demand of the patients.
As many as 880 posts of doctors have been sanctioned, out of which notifications have been issued for 565 posts, but only 185 posts have been filled up so far. The government has also released Rs. 22 crore for paying the salaries of junior doctors who were agitating for their salaries. They had also demanded that the remittances be made on the first of every month, which the minister assured them he would sanction.
Courtesy: INN