Khristiya Seva Niketan, formerly Santhal Mission Hospital was established in 1914 by Dr. Caleb Davis, a Welsh methodist missionary doctor. Interestingly, many years ago a sadhu prophesied that this would become a place of healing. The service initiated as a clinic has since undergone many expansions and currently stands as a 150 bed general hospital with an outpatient department, basic laboratory and pharmacy. While the hospital is Christian in ethos both staff and patients come from many different faith communities.
The hospital is a not-for-profit organisation providing essential primary and secondary healthcare to the local community. The population consists largely of farmers and tribal communities living amongst the surrounding teak forrests. Financial resources are limited and therefore people are in need of affordable healthcare.
The hospital is situated in Sarenga, a village of approximately 25,000 inhabitants in the district of Bankura, West Bengal. It is about 180 kilometers from Kolkata and 60 kilometers from Bankura town.
KSN seeks to provide essential health care to the local community at a low cost. Due to our rural location and poor status of patients, we work with limited resources.
Our services include:
In-patient unit
The hospital has 150 beds and provides a 24h emergency service. In-patient facilities include general adult medicine, general surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and neonatology. Both the adult wards and paediatric ward have attached isolation units catering for the management of communicable diseases. Common medical pathologies include tuberculosis, typhoid fever, pneumonia and non-communicable diseases.
The maternity ward is often a hive of activity managing the delivery of approximately 150 deliveries per month. The attached neonatal unit is a clean and warm environment allowing for the care of neonatal problems such as sepsis, jaundice and prematurity.
Surgery
The hospital has two theatres for major procedures and one for minor operations. The theatres were built in 1970 under the watchful eye of then Medical Superintendant Dr David Goodall.
Out-patient department
We run a general outpatient clinic six days a week and twice weekly ante-natal and under-5 clinics.
Laboratory
Our lab is able to perform haematology and biochemistry investigations along with a plethora of other tests. Unfortunately blood bank and microbiology services remain outstanding.
Pharmacy
The hospital has its own pharmacy which stocks essential life saving medications and is open 24 hours a day.
X-Ray department
We provide X-ray and ECG services. We are currently attempting to provide a much needed Ultrasound service.
Dentist
A visiting dentist provides his service once a week.
Along with our own services we also provide health care to patients under several government initiatives. These include:
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna
An insurance scheme for patients that are below the poverty line. Through this we provide free care to in-patients including surgery, medications, investigations, transport and free meals.
Janani Suraksha Yojna
An initiative to help increase antenatal attendance and institutional deliveries in order to help reduce maternal and child mortality. Through this, our hospital provides free deliveries, including caesarian section and neonatal care for up to one month.
Mobile Medical Camps
We run mobile camps six days a week at government appointed centres in Bankura district. These camps are held in remote communities which have no local access to doctors. The mobile camp team includes a doctor, nurse, lab technician, X-ray technician and pharmacist. All consultations, tests and medications are given free of cost
Immunisations
We provide immunisations in line with the Indian government schedule during our twice weekly under-5 clinic.
Eye camps
We have a permanent eye technician that is able to screen for common eye ailments such as cataracts and glaucoma. In addition to this we hold regular eye camps where a visiting surgeon assesses patients and performs cataract surgery.
Job vacancies
We are currently looking to expand our medical, nursing and paramedical staff. For more information contact our Medical Superintendent, Dr Shubhro Mullick on shubhro2001@yahoo.co.uk
Medical elective
We receive medical elective students from abroad on a regular basis. The students have always integrated well within the KSN family and found their placement to be fulfilling. For further information on doing a medical elective here, contact Dr Shubhro Mullick on shubhro2001@yahoo.co.uk
Visit Us
With our cententary events coming up in early 2014, we are keen for people interested to visit our hospital and enjoy our events. More information to follow about our plans.
Join us on Facebook
Donations
As we strive to provide low cost care in a resource poor setting, we are always in need of funds. Any donations are very gratefully received. If you wish to donate, the please contact us.
In 1971 a School of Nursing was opened to impart a two-year course on Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM). In 1990 the school started the General Nursing Midwifery (GNM) course of three years and the ANM course was discontinued. With effect from 2004 the GNM course has been extended to 3½ years duration. The GNM course is affiliated with the West Bengal Nursing Council (WBNC) and the Indian Nursing Council (INC)
Being a rural hospital serving a low-income population, we often have strained financial resources. This has meant that recruiting adequate staff is a challenge. Nevertheless, we have a commited set of staff.
Other health professionals include a pathologist, two anaesthetics technicians, four lab technicians, two pharmacists and two X-ray technicians along with several clerical staff.
Contact us
For more information you can contact:
Dr Shubhro S Mullick, Medical Superintendant.
shubhro2001@yahoo.co.uk
Address:
Khristiya Seva Niketan
Vill and PO Sarenga
District Bankura
West Bengal
722 150
India
Tel: +91 3243 269227
Directions from Kolkata to Sarenga
The nearest airport is NSC Bose International Airport, Kolkata (CCU)
Sarenga is 180 kilometres from Kolkata. The best way to travel is to take a 3 hour train to Chandrakona Road. From here Sarenga is a 50 minute car journey.
By car, the journey takes approximately 5 hours