Ludhiana: With the Punjab government claiming to revamp the healthcare in the state, a 10-bedded urban community healthcare centre (UCHC) at civil surgeon office complex here has a single staff nurse and doesn’t have most specialists, besides facing shortage of doctors. The centre, which was supposed to be upgraded to a 30-bedded 24X7 facility, was inaugurated with much fanfare by state health minister Dr Balbir Singh on Dec 6, 2024, and because of staff constraints, the authorities are unable to admit any patient at the centre. The civil surgeon conceded that there was shortage of staff and steps were being taken to address the issue.Sources at the UCHC said there was just one staff nurse deputed at the hospital as the other nurse had left the job. They added that the centre needed atleast four staff nurses. They added that as there was just one staff nurse at the UCHC, they were unable to admit any patient at the centre even as they got around 50-60 patients a day.An official at the centre stated that there were no specialists like an orthopaedic, gynaecologist, ophthalmologist and paediatrician. The official added that as X ray was being done at the centre, they had a radiographer but no radiologist. Another official said even as they had around six doctors deputed at the centre, hardly any of them were available as they were given other duties. He added that even as UCHC was supposed to have Class-IV employees, there was none and they had to get cleaning work done through private persons.Recently, TOI found that of the two security guards deployed at the UCHC, none was there at the centre. On being enquired from the staff, they said since the duo were drawn from some other institution, they had to do their duty at two places. Meanwhile, on visiting UCHC’s general ward, all beds were found vacant. Also, a few patients were seen roaming around as two doctors were not on their respective seats.A staff member said patients did come in for tests and got medicines, they conceded that more staff needed to be deputed there.Meanwhile, people who visit the centre are unhappy with the status of the centre.Amarjeet Kaur, a Chander Nagar resident, said though the government had come up with the centre in the heart of the city, it didn’t provide proper staff for the benefit of the people. She added that result was that people were not getting much benefit from the same. Civil surgeon Dr Ramandeep Kaur suggested that they were making efforts to get staff for the centre. However, she added, patients didn’t get admitted there as the civil hospital was around 3km from here and had better facilities.
