Patients dwindle in Rein Bazar health centre

HYDERABAD: The 20-year-old Rein Bazar health centre lacks sufficient staff to cater to over 10,000 people living in different areas.
The centre that is supposed to have two medical officers for separate departments has only one medical officer and the post has been lying vacant for the last eight years. Moreover, the health centre is not being maintained properly and the drugs, which are supposed to be given free of cost, are being sold to the patients.
"Female patients are charged with Rs 500 per head by the hospital staff for even minor out-patient treatments," Nazia Khatoon one of the resident said."As there is no one to question the staff they are least bothered about the timings," Mahaboob Ali one of the resident said.
The health centre is supposed to be kept open from 9 am to 12 am in the morning and 4 pm to 6 pm in the evening. But it is usually kept closed in the evenings. During the last five years the quality of treatment has gone down and there are few patients who come here for treatment, Ali said.
Patients, previously, used to wait in long queues for the consultation and now as the centre is closed most of the times, they go to the Madannapet health centre or private health centres in their locality, Ali said.
''No security arrangement is provided to the health centres during the nights and the telephone facility is dysfunctional most of the times," Ahmed Khan one of the resident said.
There is no supply of drinking water to the centre and the staff and the patients have been drinking borewell water since the establishment of the health centre, one of the health centre employee said.