Media reports that a woman in labour was turned away from the Government’s premier maternity hospital – Ganesh Das – for want of basic amenities is very disconcerting. It is reported that the hospital ran out of sterilized sheets to use after a Caesarian section is performed on a pregnant woman. The Medical Superintendent explained to the media in a nonchalant manner that the operation could not be performed because of the shortage of sterilized sheets, as if, that was a routine occurrence and not a matter of concern. The hospital must be having a record of the number of deliveries per day and should have had a stock of sterilized sheets for exigencies such as the one occurring on Sunday. True that Government run hospitals, especially Ganesh Das, is the go-to maternity hospital for those who cannot afford private healthcare. It is also a fact that pregnant women from distant villages of Khasi and Jaintia Hills who go into labour have to be brought to Shillong even for slight complications because the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) at the block levels and Community Health Centres (CHCs) at the sub-divisional levels don’t function optimally.
PHCs are supposed to provide services such as maternal-child health including family planning and training of health guides, health workers, local dais (birth attendants) and health assistants. The next level of health care facility is a CHC. It is to be manned by four medical specialists i.e. surgeon, physician, gynecologist and pediatrician supported by 21 paramedical and other staff. It has 30 in-door beds with one OT, X-ray, labour room and laboratory facilities. CHCs serve as a referral centre for 4 PHCs and also provide facilities for obstetric care and specialist consultations. If the CHCs have all of the above facilities then why are pregnant mostly sent to Shillong for delivery? The CHC with a gynecologist in attendance should be able to handle even a complicated delivery case but that is not happening. All this is due to a lackadaisical attitude of government doctors who refuse to go beyond the call of duty and treat their jobs as 9 to 5 one. Lack of supervision and inspections has turned the PHCs and CHCs into spaces where doctors only work part time while they are busy with their private practices. Most doctors attend to their duties at the PHC only on market days and remain absent throughout the week. Many do not reside in the quarters provided. Unless the Government takes a stern view of this dereliction of duty by its doctors, health care will continue to be in a crisis in Meghalaya and maternal and infant mortality will continue to rise.