Balurghat: Drive on to stop surgery patients get pushed to pvt nursing homes

BALURGHAT: Balurghat District Hospital authorities launched an intensified initiative to ensure that no patient requiring surgery is forced to return or seek treatment at private nursing homes.

Hospital Superintendent Krishnendu Bikash Bag has taken charge of the campaign to curb the influence of brokers.

Special monitoring teams have been deployed across the outpatient department (OPD) and the Astha project wards, with hospital staff instructed to identify patients needing surgery. Details of such patients are being collected, and follow-ups are being conducted to ensure timely surgical intervention.

Despite having advanced infrastructure and an adequate number of surgeons and specialists, the number of surgeries at the hospital had remained alarmingly low. The issue was recently discussed at a Rogi Kalyan Samiti meeting, where the DM of Dakshin Dinajpur directed the authorities to increase surgical output. Statistics reveal that only six to seven general surgeries were conducted per month so far this year, forcing patients requiring gall bladder, appendix, hernia or tumour surgeries to opt for costly private nursing homes.

Following the meeting, it was decided that six to seven surgeries would be conducted every week. Doctors have been instructed not to turn away any patient.

“The number of surgeries has increased, and we are working to raise it further. We are speaking to patients’ families and asking them to contact me directly if surgery is required,” the Superintendent said.