Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Oct 5: As the Government has designated Sub-district Hospital Sopore for COVID-19 treatment, the non-COVID care especially the gynae has taken a big hit.
The locals said the general emergency surgeries have remained suspended ever since authorities dedicated the hospital to the COVID management, while as the gynae cases are being sent to overburdened SDH Pattan and DH Baramulla.
“No emergency surgeries have taken place in the last six months here. The worst affected are the gynae patient care who have to travel long distances for treatment including Srinagar,” a resident said.
While describing the challenges confronting the gyane patients, the locals claimed that the SDH Sopore is around 18-20 kilometers away from Sopore and the patients lose a lot of time getting there. “It is a time-consuming and the facilities there are below par. We want authorities to open a portion of the hospital for gynae care,” another resident, Bashir Ahmad said.
The hospital receives patients from the adjacent districts, including Kupwara and Handwara, and that makes the facility crucial. The referrals from the Kupwara and Handwara face more difficult as their journey gets doubled because the facility is unavailable. “Addition of over 20 kilometers means that patients from Kupwara and Handwara have to travel 57 and 44 kilometers for treatment respectively,” Manzoor Ahmad, a resident of Arimpora Sopore, said.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Baramulla Dr Deeba Khan told Excelsior that they would visit the hospital to examine the feasibility of opening non-COVID facilities. “We cannot risk the lives of patients and have to assess the situation before taking any step,” she said, adding that they are managing the patients well at SDH Pattan.
Meanwhile, the Economic Alliance Sopore has asked the administration to resume normal patient care at the SDH Sopore. “This will be a major relief for the people of Sopore as no emergency, general surgeries are carried out there and gynae cases are referred. The patients from Handwara, Kupwara and other far off places faces difficulty in availing healthcare. So, we ask the government to resume the normal patient care at SDH Sopore,” Mohammad Ashraf Ganie, President, Economic Alliance Sopore said.
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