The Gelephu Regional Referral Hospital is facing difficulty in providing necessary health care services to its patients. As a regional referral hospital, it is supposed to have at least one surgeon and a specialist in all the fields.
The ENT and Orthopaedic section of the hospital is manned by technicians in the absence of specialists. The hospital has not had an Orthopaedic Specialist since two years and ENT specialists for two months now.
The Orthopaedic Technician, Sonam Thinley, said villagers from the region come to Gelephu hospital for treatment. “But, as we do not have a surgeon we refer them to Thimphu. The cases are bone fractures so it is inconvenient for the patients to travel.”
Tshering Dorji, the ENT Technician, said he is just a technician and does not have knowledge of everything. “If we have a surgeon, working under their guidance would be beneficial. We can learn and treat patients without having to go to Thimphu.”
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Although referral hospitals are mandated to have a Dermatologist, Gelephu hospital does not have one. The General Surgeon of the Gelephu hospital, who was from Myanmar left in 2011after completing the contract. At the moment, the General Duty Medical Officer handles the General Surgeon’s cases. However, surgery cases are referred to the Thimphu National Referral hospital or to Assam or Guwahati in India.
The General Duty Medical Officer, Dr. Sonu Subba, said he is supposed to handle general cases. “Whatever I cannot handle I have to refer. What we do is, we consult the surgeons in Thimphu or the specialists.”
The Gelephu Regional Referral Hospital gets patients from Tsirang, Dagana, Sarpang, Zhemgang and Panbang.
“We are managing our best with the doctors and clinical officer available, be it medical guidance or treatment,” said the Senior Information and Media Officer, Chimi Drukpa.
The Director General of the Department of Medical Services Dr. Ugen Dophu said, the Health Ministry does not have adequate specialists to meet the requirement of referral hospitals.
There are just five surgeons in the country at the moment. The situation is expected to improve in a few years time with the return of the health professionals who are undergoing studies.
