Sit-In du personnel médical et paramédical de ‘’l’EPH Ahmed Ben-Bella de Khenchela’’

Sit-In of medical and paramedical staff of ”EPH Ahmed Ben-Bella of Khenchela”

Health

The medical and paramedical staff of the ”EPH Ahmed Ben Bella” in the wilaya of Khenchela organized a ”Sit-In” at the hospital structure located on the road to Batna (Khenchela). The various representatives of this health structure took turns speaking out about poor management and accusing health leaders of being at the origin of the evil that is eroding health in the wilaya of Khenchela.
Brandishing signs during the Sit-In, the protesters point the finger at health officials including the DSP, accusing them of being at the origin of the various problems shaking this hospital structure. The speakers did not give details regarding their protest movement speaking only of “mismanagement, also incriminating the first health official at the wilaya level, in this case the public health director (DSP).
As we had already given in a recent paper, the various health establishments, whether in the capital of the wilaya or in the daïras, suffer from a lack of medical equipment and specialist doctors, particularly in cardiology, intensive care and especially in gynecology.
According to hospital sources, the scanner device has already been repaired several times in the past before breaking down each time. The managers of the structure with whom we have previously contacted wish to acquire new scanner and MRI devices. We also learned of the unavailability of the scanner and MRI machine at the old hospital located in downtown Khenchela. The new director of the hospital ”Ali Boushaba” who was also appointed at the same time as the director of the EPH ”Ahmed Ben Bella” at the head of this health structure uses all her know-how and experience for the proper functioning and good care of patients.
If at the level of the daïra of Kaïs, the problem of equipment does not arise, the inhabitants of the daïra of Chéchar (50 km) of the capital of the wilaya complain of the lack of scanner devices and specialist doctors, particularly in gynecology.
Our interlocutors also indicated that the two Saâdi-Maâmar and Chadli-Bendjedid hospitals do not have sufficient staff housing.
Concerning specialist doctors, only two assistant doctors specializing in general surgery have joined the “Ahmed Ben Bella” EPH in Khenchela.
They are Doctor Nasseri, assistant specialist in general surgery and Dr Madour, assistant specialist in general surgery. To find out more about this protest movement, we tried numerous times to contact the director of public health (DSP) of the wilaya of Khenchela, but in vain. The three telephone lines and even the ”four digits” that the health department has are not responding. At the Khenchela EPH secretariat, we were told that the director of the structure is not in his office.
As we go to press, we have learned that medical and paramedical staff have ended their movement. However, it should be noted that the wilaya of Khenchela does not have a University Hospital (CHU) which remains the main demand of elected officials, representatives of civil society and citizens. The latter indicated that the various hospitals (120 beds maximum) are not only insufficient but do not have essential specialties.
“The numerous cases of burns and patients who are victims of traffic accidents are evacuated to the hospital centers of Batna or Constantine. The majority of victims succumbed to their injuries during their transfer before their arrival at the Batna or Constantine hospital centers. Representatives of the company also mentioned the lack of specialized psychiatric structures. Our interlocutors indicated that many mentally ill people wander the streets without any assistance. The parents of its patients indicated that the psychiatric structures located in the neighboring wilayas refuse to receive patients from the wilaya of Khenchela due to lack of space.
Moncef Redha