ICUs in government hospitals of Assam face manpower crunch

No intensivist, trained tech staffs, disproportionate nurse-patient ratio

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Even though Dispur is rapidly increasing the number of Intensive Care Units in government hospitals, acute shortage of trained manpower has become a major constraint to deliver effective treatment to critically ill patients in ICUs.

"Just before the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 the Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) had around 70 ICU beds. Now the strength of ICU beds in GMCH has crossed 500. But there has been no proportionate increase of trained nurses, technicians, critical care doctors and other subordinate staffs to look after patients being admitted in the newly created ICUs. Similar is the situation in the Assam Medical College & Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh, Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH), Jorhat Medical College & Hospital, Tezpur Medical College & Hospital, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College & Hospital, Dibrugarh and other hospitals in the State," a source in the Health department said.

The worst part is that none of the government hospitals in Assam have sanctioned posts for intensivists, who are specialised doctors trained to work in the ICUs. Eitheranaesthetists or specialists in cardiology, medicine, surgery, paediatrics and pathology are doing the job of intensivists in ICUs.

"Mere setting of ICUs is not enough. The need of the hour is to scale up associated manpower and other facilities to run ICUs. Intensive care management needs to be handled by an intensivist along with an anaesthetist. Barring a few exceptions, where intensivists from private hospitals have been roped in as consultants, most ICUs in government hospitals are run by anaesthetists or senior doctors from other specialities," the source said.

Sources said that there should be one burse against three patients in ICUs. But the standard nurse-patient ratio is not maintained in ICUs in government hospitals. The nurses are also not trained in ICU management.

Besides an acute shortage of intensivists, there is an inadequate number of anaesthetists in six medical colleges & hospitals and government hospitals in the State. Several posts of anaesthetists in GMCH, AMCH and SMCH are still lying vacant, the source said.

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