Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 28 Jul: Under the leadership of former Metropolitan Congress President Lalchand Sharma, a delegation of city Congress leaders met Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar and submitted a letter demanding that facilities at government hospitals be improved and necessary decisions be taken in the interest of patients.
In the suggestions handed over to the Health Secretary, Lalchand Sharma emphasised the need to highlight the facilities available at government hospitals so that patients can benefit from them and requested simplification of related processes. He pointed out that even major government hospitals in the state capital, such as Doon Medical Hospital and Coronation District Hospital, face a severe shortage of beds.
He stated that patients often wait up to two months for surgeries, with frequent shortages of surgeons or anaesthetists. Even after completing all required tests, patients are sometimes refused surgery at the last moment due to staff shortage or excessive patient load, leaving them disheartened — especially poor patients who suffer doubly. Patients from remote mountain areas of Uttarakhand, as well as from Haridwar, Kotdwar, and bordering regions of Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, face extreme difficulties when seeking treatment.
Sharma also highlighted the shortage of staff at registration counters, billing counters, pharmacy counters, and pathology/radiology sections, causing hardship to elderly patients, those with serious illnesses, and pregnant women. He noted that there is a severe lack of radiologists at Doon Medical and Coronation Hospitals, forcing patients to wait two months for ultrasounds or rely on private diagnostic centres. He urged the government to address this shortage urgently.
The letter recalled that during the severe wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, oxygen plants were installed in major hospitals and cylinders were distributed even to primary health centres in remote areas. Such systems should be revived so patients in distant mountain areas do not suffer in emergencies. Similarly, the ICU bed capacity increased during that time, but even now patients struggle to find ICU beds in Dehradun. A thorough review and correction of these issues were requested.
Former MLA Rajkumar pointed out that though psychiatrists are available at Doon Medical and Coronation Hospitals, free medicines for mental health patients are not provided, forcing patients to buy expensive medicines from private pharmacies. Many cannot afford continuous treatment, leading to worsened conditions or substance abuse. Families, unaware of proper care, often admit such patients to unregulated de-addiction centres, where cases of exploitation and even deaths have been reported. The leaders demanded strict action against such centres and closure of fake medicine factories.
Additional demands included appointment of adequate staff at combined hospitals such as Premnagar; deployment of psychiatrists in all government hospitals and provision of free medicines for mental health patients; streamlining of emergency admissions, especially at night, and simplifying procedures under the Ayushman Bharat scheme so that treatment, tests, and medicines are covered from the moment of admission.
Coordination with traffic police to ensure ambulances are not stuck in jams in Dehradun, which often delays emergency treatment, was also sought.
Launch of a cleanliness awareness campaign in urban and rural areas was also demanded, along with regular fogging, water drainage, and awareness drives via posters and banners, especially in government schools, Anganwadi centres, slums, and crowded places. Health and nutrition programmes in government schools and sanitation programmes for women and adolescent girls in slums was also demanded. Establishing of clinical psychology departments for school-going adolescents was suggested. Improving cleanliness at Doon Medical College and addressing medicine supply issues from the CMO office; adding more lifts at Doon Medical College Hospital, as the single lift is inadequate for elderly and disabled patients; increasing registration counters at Coronation Hospital to reduce waiting times and ensuring uninterrupted medicine supply, including resolving the shortage of lenses at Gandhi Centenary Eye Hospital, were other demands.
The delays in salaries for urban health workers were required to be ended to boost morale. Strict action against counterfeit medicines was also sought.
Health Secretary Dr R Rajesh Kumar assured that these issues would be resolved promptly.
The delegation included former MLA Rajkumar, former Metropolitan Congress President Lalchand Sharma, Pradesh General Secretary Rajiv Punj, spokesperson Deep Bohra, and Councillor Arjun Sonkar, among others.
