The dialysis centre equipped with five machines in the Government Area Hospital in Bhadrachalam is struggling to cope with the rising demand for adequate dialysis services to patients suffering from chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Set up more than two years ago in the public-private-partnership (PPP) model in the hospital, the single-used filter dialysis facility is proving to be a boon for patients afflicted with CKD from impoverished families in the tribal sub-plan mandals of the Bhadrachalam Agency. The five-bedded centre is presently catering to around 50 kidney patients, providing them free dialysis services eight to nine times a month.
There are around 50 more needy patients waiting for their turn to get enrolled in the centre, sources added. With the surge in number of patients approaching the centre for dialysis services from the vast Bhadrachalam Agency, the Hospital Development Society has recently passed a resolution seeking sanction of additional units at the dialysis centre to cater to more number of kidney patients.
Bhadrachalam MLA Podem Veeraiah met the higher officials of Telangana Vaidya Vidhana Parishad (TVVP) in Hyderabad on Monday and sought their intervention to upgrade the dialysis centre to extend the free dialysis services to more needy patients, so that their families are spared of the enormous financial burden. He also urged them to take immediate steps to fill up the vacant posts of doctors and nursing staff in the area hospital.
He reportedly apprised the authorities of the severe shortage of nursing staff and doctors, including specialist medical officers in the 200-bedded area hospital, the major public health care facility in Telangana’s tribal heartland.
When contacted, the hospital superintendent Ch. Yugandhar told The Hindu that around 50 kidney patients possessing Arogyasri cards are availing dialysis services free of cost at the five-bedded unit in the hospital. There is an imminent need to increase the number of machines in the centre to extend the dialysis services to more needy renal failure patients of the Agency areas, he added.
