Mandi’s Nerchowk medical college tells patient to come 8 months later on Christmas for ultrasound!
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College serves as focal point for lakhs of patients from 3 Himachal districts; principal says he will get matter investigated
Mandi: The Himachal Pradesh government may have been making lofty promises of improving healthcare facilities in the state, but the ground reality speaks otherwise. In one such example at the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College at Nerchowk in Mandi, a patient has been given an eight-month date for an ultrasound test.
The Nerchowk medical college serves as a focal point for the healthcare needs of lakhs of people from three district of Himachal Pradesh — Mandi, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti.
Patient called on Christmas
Yoginder Pal, a resident of Lohardi in Balh tehsil of Mandi district, underwent surgery at the Nerchowk medical college following complaints of kidney stones. He was admitted on April 10 and discharged on April 13.
The doctor called him for a follow-up on April 20 and prescribed him medication for three months along with advising him to get an ultrasound done in the second week of July. However, when Yoginder Pal went to get the date for the ultrasound test, he was told that appointments were unavailable until later dates and the nearest available appointment given was eight months later on December 25 (2024), which is a holiday.
2-month waiting a norm
It is commonly observed that in government hospitals, ultrasound appointments are scheduled two to three months later because most government hospitals face a shortage of radiologist doctors. Consequently, despite the government spending thousands of crores on building hospital infrastructure, patients end up paying hefty sums at private clinics for minor tests that could be done for free at government hospitals.
Local resident Gagan Sharma points out that numerous private labs have sprung up outside every government hospital in the state, which earn crores annually from patients. This trend persists because although the government builds hospitals with hefty budgets, the lack of staff affects the quality of services, prompting people to opt for private facilities.
Principal to probe matter
When Principal Dr DK Verma of the Nerchowk medical college was approached for comment, he expressed surprise over the matter. He acknowledged the shortage of doctors in the radiology department, but questioned the rationale behind such a long waiting period. He assured that an inquiry would be initiated to investigate the matter thoroughly.
