Visakhapatnam: The operation theatres at Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) are only running at a tenth of their capacity thanks to a crippling shortage of doctors and nurses.No more than 50 beds are being utilised at the theatres which have 500 beds in total. Even high-end medical equipment worth crores of rupees is lying unused due to the staff shortage.Built on a sprawling area of 100 acres on picturesque land along National Highway 16, the hospital is equipped with high-end imported equipment, adequate infrastructure, operation theatres and other facilities but a shortage of manpower is blunting its ambition of becoming a premier health institute in the state.The foundation stone of VIMS was laid in 2007 but construction did not begin for four years. It was built and inaugurated in April 2016 with limited in-patient services commencing from August 2016. Since the hospital is situated on the national highway, accident/trauma care services were supposed to be handled on a priority basis by the hospital, but in reality, it is unable to cater to emergency cases as there is hardly any staff to run an emergency operation theatre.A doctor from the hospital spoke of how patients had to be sent back due to the staff crunch."We have good equipment including CT scan facility, but there are inadequate specialist doctors and a dearth of nurses due to which we are unable to run the 24x7 emergency services. So if accident or trauma cases arrive at night, they have to be sent to private hospitals in the Health City, located in the vicinity."All 40 doctors working in VIMS are on a deputation basis and no permanent recruitment has taken place so far. VIMS director Dr CV Rao said, "We have lots of development plans for VIMS and we want to develop it as a self-sustaining institute in a good economic model that will be affordable for the middle class. Consultants would be appointed to look into ways to develop it. But unless the government conducts permanent appointment of doctors, nobody will have a sense of belonging and zeal to develop the institute if they are merely posted on deputation. So we are asking the government to provide us with adequate doctors and nurses. We need at least 15-20 specialist doctors and another 40 nurses. I am also planning to start four more OTs in a few months including emergency services if we get the required manpower."Moreover, the problem of non-usage of imported and expensive equipment is also related to the shortage of manpower. A doctor, requesting anonymity said, "We have imported machinery and surgical equipment worth Rs 9 crore. But their warranty would expire in one or two years. Unless we use the equipment, there is no way of knowing if there is any defect that needs replacement within the warranty period. Instead of letting the equipment go to waste here, there were proposals to redistribute them to other government hospitals that need such high-end equipment and have the manpower to run these. The hospital management had also written to the state health authorities about the equipment issue but it was of no avail. Also, once redistributed, it will take several years to get the equipment back. So the best solution is to enhance the manpower here and put the expensive equipment to proper use."

Stay updated with all the Latest Visakhapatnam headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.