Andheri west resident, Samir Kumar, 23, had to wait for three hours last month at a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) run dispensary for her mother's treatment who was suffering from high temperature fever.
Likewise, Imran Sheikh, 43, found that doctors were unavailable at a Jogeshwari when he took his five year old daughter for treatment over there.
At a time of pandemic outbreak, there is a shortage of doctors and staffers at the civic run hospitals and dispensaries of Andheri West.
"When we arrived at the hospital we found there were at least fifteen patients waiting before us. This is a regular story in the BMC hospitals of our area," Kumar told FPJ.
"Moreover now doctors are not there in the dispensaries for most of the time as they go out for door to door COVID screenings," said Shaikh.
There are seven civic run dispensaries and one hospital at the K west ward. Those living in this area have stated the shortage of doctors in the civic run hospitals is causing them huge inconvenience amid the pandemic outbreak.
Civic health officials stated nearly 40 per cent of the posts for doctors are vacant in their wards.
"The doctors and health staffers are heavily understaffed, which is causing inconvenience to both the patients and medical workers" said a civic health official.
"In some dispensaries there is only one doctor which overburden them at times," said the official.
Highlighting the issue, local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator, Aneesh Naval Makwani has written to the civic body demanding immediate redressal of the problem. In the letter, Makwani urged the administration to immediately fill the vacant posts.
"In the government run hospitals the infrastructure is not good while the private hospitals charge exorbitantly, which is why people are mainly dependent on BMC run hospitals but the number of doctors working here are half of what the actual strength should be," Makwani told FPJ.
Andheri West falls under the (K west) ward, which has reported 10,548 cases till date and presently has 1992 active cases.
"The pandemic situation in this ward is worsening as more and more cases are reported daily. There has been delay in treatment of patients because there were not enough doctors," he added.
