Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Sep 7: “The government hospitals do not have skilled operation theatre (OT) technicians. ‘D’ group employees are working in the place of OT technicians. There is no recruitment by the state government. Ironically, the health department has no knowledge and does not know the importance of these positions,” alleged by G A Koteyar, national vice-president of Mass India.
He was speaking at the Udupi press club here on Tuesday September 7. He said, “It is mandatory to have OT technicians at all hospitals. The medical apparatus are left unused in the hospital due to this. According to government norms, a district hospital needs at least 8 technicians. But full-fledged staff lack in government hospitals.
“An OT technician will assist anaesthesia and surgical teams in all kinds of surgical disciplines. They will assist disaster teams in disaster situations and national emergencies on field and assist in safe transport in ambulances. They should handle setup at OT, check and maintain anaesthesia machines, monitor life support equipment like airway equipment, ventilator, emergency equipment, defibrillator, and anaesthetic and resuscitation drugs.
“But people are not aware of this job profile. There are 1,124 posts vacant in the state. Hence, the government has to think seriously on the issue and needs to hire qualified and skilled technicians in OTs for providing better healthcare service to the people,” he said.
Basavaraj K Adavi, president, Labour Commission Mass India, said, “During the Covid pandemic period, the government has purchased worth crores of medical apparatus, ventilators, oximeters and many other advanced machines. But today, all are kept aside. As I have been working in a government hospital for three years, as per my observation, there are no qualified technicians in OT, ICU units and other labs. ‘D’ group employees are doing all jobs. They do not have education qualification. They will assist all the surgeons, anaesthetists. This kind of negligence in the health department may take away lives.”
Geetha C Poojary, woman president, Mass India, and Basavaraj N Kolluru, member, Mass India were present.