Patna: Getting surgery done at government hospitals in the state capital has become increasingly difficult, with patients waiting for weeks and even months for operations at major institutions such as Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) and Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP).
At PMCH and IGIMS, the situation is most critical in neurosurgery. Patients requiring brain surgery are facing waiting periods of two to three months. Even for orthopaedic procedures such as fracture repair and hip replacement, patients are being made to wait anywhere between 15 days and one month.
Hospital officials admit that the shortage of beds and operation theatres is a major reason behind the delays. According to official data, Bihar has just half a hospital bed per 1,000 people and only one operation theatre for every 200 beds. IGIMS authorities say the patient load is extremely high while beds and OT facilities remain limited.
LNJP Director Dr Rakesh Chaudhary said the hospital does not have enough operation theatres compared to the number of patients. “Our OTs do not function round the clock. This directly affects the number of surgeries we can perform daily,” he said.
Patients Forced to Wait
Santosh from Ekangar Sarai has been visiting IGIMS for the past 15 days with his son, who needs surgery. He said doctors called them last Tuesday, but due to the unavailability of beds, they were asked to return after another two weeks.
In another case, Pinki Devi from Manpura near Rajapur Bridge fractured her hand. At LNJP, doctors applied a temporary plaster and asked her to come back after a week for surgery. Twelve days have passed, but she is still making repeated visits to the hospital without any fixed date for the operation.
Healthcare Infrastructure Far Below Standards
According to World Health Organization and National Medical Commission benchmarks, the ideal doctor-to-population ratio is 1:1000, but in Bihar it stands at around 1:2500. The bed-to-population ratio should be 3 beds per 1,000 people, but the state has only 0.5 beds per 1,000. The recommended nurse-to-patient ratio is 1:3, while Bihar operates with about 1 nurse for every 30 patients.
Similarly, the standard norm is one operation theatre for every 50 beds, but in Patna’s government hospitals, there is only one OT for every 200 beds.
Dr Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, Director of Mahavir Vatsalya Sansthan and former Superintendent of PMCH, said a large government hospital’s efficiency depends on the number of OTs and their turnover. “If 200 orthopaedic patients are admitted, at least four to five OTs should function round the clock. At PMCH, only four to five major surgeries are done in a day due to limited OTs. There is also a severe shortage of doctors,” he said.
He added that in an ideal teaching hospital, each unit should have at least one professor, one associate professor and two assistant professors. Currently, 30–40 per cent of faculty posts in Patna’s medical colleges are vacant, and there is a shortfall of nearly 70 per cent in neurosurgeons.
Need for Urgent Reforms
Health experts warn that unless the government urgently upgrades hospital infrastructure, increases OT capacity and fills vacant medical posts, patients from across Bihar will continue to suffer long delays for critical surgeries at the capital’s top government hospitals.
