 |
|
| Kathmandu, Sunday August 11, 2002 Shrawan 26, 2059. |
|
Children risk their lives as
doctors desert Kanti Children Hospital
Post Report
KATHMANDU, Aug 10:Children in the Kanti Hospital
have been left without a proper child surgeon to attend their delicate surgery and other
medical treatment which often involves high-risks.
The hospital is short of proper surgeons since
the last three months following the resignations of the pediatric consultant surgeons and
the unavailability of other experienced and skilled child doctors in the country.
One of the four child doctors went missing from
Nepal, two have retired and the only one who was with the Kanti Children Hospital resigned
three months ago citing dissatisfaction for not being promoted to a higher position.
Dr Ram Kumar Shrestha, who was working at the
Kanti Hospital went missing while on a training in London and never returned. Dr Shrestha
is now running his private clinic in England while Dr Krishna Prasad Devkota, who served
at the Hospital for the last 16 years resigned citing lack of promotion.
"Resignation could be the best option if
you are not promoted even after serving for 16-long years," Dr Devkota said.
The Surgical Department of the Hospital has
hired a physician from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) two months back
to fill the vacuum but the want of experienced and qualified surgeons has left the
services to the children largely unsatisfactory.
"We have not completely stopped performing
surgery but are facing a difficult situation to continue in the absence of an experienced
surgeon," Dr Punya Bahadur Thapa, Director, Kanti Children Hospital told The
Kathmandu Post on Saturday.
A Hospital official, however, claimed that the
unavailability of the surgeon has forced hundreds of children to be discharged without
receiving the treatment in the last one month. While those children requiring immediate
surgery have been compelled to take recourse to the private hospitals.
The 40-bed Hospital constructed with the support
of Japanese government now looks almost empty in the absence of regular surgical services.
Thanks to the recklessness of the authority and the dollar-driven doctors of the country
who are lured away by better opportunities in the foreign countries.
Other Stories
|
