Mumbai : Staff crunch, lack of medicines, lack of ICUs, ventilators and a crumbling infrastructure, this is what plagues the six Employees’ State Insurance Scheme hospitals (ESIS) in Mumbai, the very public hospitals which are supposed to cater to employees and staff of Central as well as State governments.
The ESIS is a self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for employees earning less than Rs 15,000 per month as wages. The employer contributes 4.75 percent and employee contributes 1.75 percent of the total wages as insurance for healthcare. This fund is managed by the ESI Corporation (ESIC) which falls under the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment. Maharashtra contributes about Rs 1,500 crore to the ESIC coffers every year but barely half of it is spent. Despite this, the condition of ESIS hospitals is dire in the state.
Kandivali: One of their hospitals in Kandivali, initially situated near the railway station, was later moved to a rented building in Thakur village which has proven to be inconvenient for doctors, nurses and other employees. All this while the new building constructed near the railway station months ago still awaits inauguration. The inauguration has been stalled due to a tussle between the State government and the corporation about the responsibility to run it. When ESIC commissioner Dr S M Zode was contacted, he said that the new building is under ESIC but will soon be transferred to the State government. This 85-bedded hospital sees an influx of 150-200 patients in the OPD everyday while 15-20 are admitted here for treatment. The hospital not only lacks super-specialty treatment, but also simple facilities like a laproscopy machine. The hospital has even been unable to pay pharmaceutical bills of up to Rs two crore. Besides, the hospital does not even have a lab technician, ECG technician and an X-ray technician and the responsibility is given to ward boys not equipped for the job. It has 27 nurses instead of a requirement of 70 and lacks a full-time pathologist.
Mulund: Forget quality healthcare, this hospital of the ESIS family has shockingly co-joined their three major wards – Gynaecology, Paediatric and Labour ward – due to lack of medical staff. For the past one year, one nurse has been single-handedly looking after all the three wards in ESIS hospital.
“We are made to work for nearly 12 hours. Due to staff crunch, a single nurse has been made to keep an eye on all the three wards. All the wards have risky patients and we cannot be present in all the wards at same time,” said a sister-in-charge from the paediatric ward, requesting anonymity.
When quizzed the hospital about the matter, Dr Ameya Kanade, resident medical officer, said, “We are falling short of staff and this was the reason behind bringing together all the wards. This way the sisters can keep an eye on all the patients. We have kept the issue before the government and we will try to appoint new staff immediately.”
To get the other side of the story, FPJ spoke to Dr Arun Bal, public health expert, “This is unacceptable because this way we are exposing the patients to various infections. As a government hospital, there should be adequate staffing and this needs to be changed immediately.”
MGM Hospital, Parel: Smack in the middle of the erstwhile mill workers colony, this hospital had a provision for a post-graduation medical college. However, construction of this college, which started in 2006-07, has been stalled and construction debris is lying unutilised in the premises. The construction was supposed to be completed in 2010 but is far from complete.
The 350-bedded hospital is run by the mill owners’ association and sees 70-80 new patients being admitted everyday. The hospital lacks at least 12 doctors and other staff. “The hospital has ample stock of medicine but its bills worth up to Rs 1 crore are still pending,” informed dean Dr Gajanan Bhagat.
ESIS Hospital, Andheri: Named Aadarsh, the ESIS hospital in Andheri is far from ideal. Staffers and relatives of patients are now demanding that the State government take back this hospital to improve the condition of medical facilities provided here. The Central government had taken over this hospital in 2008 to turn it into a model hospital for healthcare. Its building is dilapidated to such an extent that the ceiling can collapse at some of the spots. The newly built residential facility in the premises is lying unutilised.
Quizzed about this, dean Dr D K Sharma said that there is nothing lacking in the hospital and cited the hospital’s achievements. He said that the construction in the premises is looked after by the ESIC headquarters and that he has no authority in the matter.
Worli: The four-acre hospital constructed in 1965 has been catering to people of this area for long. Initially consisting of 550 beds but it was reduced to 300 beds after failing demand. It lacks an ICU despite a proposal for the same for the past two years. Besides, it lacks facilities like radiology machine, pathology lab, auto-analyser, cell counter, etc.
Thane: the situation is not at all different in Thane ESIS hospital where there is a staff crunch and lack of medicinal stock. Besides, this premises has 27 residential facilities for government employees and workers but a lot of these buildings are lying unutilised. Dean Dr M K Vathore lamented the lack of doctors as well as technicians in the facility. He agreed that the hospital lacks super-specialists and anesthetists. He said that the Rs 15 lakh grant expected from the government in December is still due.
Prakash Sawant
