Redeploy medical staffs within 15 days: USSC

Kiphire, 22 May (MTNews): The United Sangtam Students’ Conference (USSC) has written to the Principal Director of Nagaland’s Health and Family Welfare Department requesting that the medical personnel who were transferred from Kiphire and Longkhim-Chare without replacement be redeployed within 15 days.

The USSC stated that the department had been transferring its staff to other districts without assigning replacements or relievers, resulting in a shortage of doctors, nurses, and other staff in the district, which had a negative impact on healthcare services and patient care. The USSC was particularly disappointed that, despite many appeals, the department continued to disregard and neglect the issue.

According to the USSC, due to loopholes in medical staff at the District Hq and Health Care Centre, the general public are forced to seek medical care outside the district, “putting the patients’ lives at risk” and causing them to endure untold hardship.

The USSC stated that the District Hospital Kiphire (DHK) has been operating without a Medical Superintendent (MS) for three months; without a radiologist since the hospital’s inception; and without an X-Ray technician for ‘decades’ and also had been operating with shortage of doctors, ophthalmic assistants, and eye specialists.

Furthermore, the apex Sangtam students’ union stated that Seyochung Town Community Health Centre (CHC), Sitimi Town Primary Health Centre, Amahator Town Primary Health Centre, and Chare Town Primary Health Centre (Under Tuensang) have been functioning without a single doctor since 2022. It also added that Longkhim Town CHC (Under Tuensang) is facing a shortage of nurses.

USSC, therefore, urged the department to look into the matter as a high priority and assign medical staff to the hospital and health centres in the area.