Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 7: Much to the distress of the patient, the lift at Government Medical College Baramulla has been dysfunctional for the last few days causing inconvenience to hundreds of people who visit the facility for healthcare needs.
Patients and attendants are compelled to use stairs because there are no lift facilities available, which increases the risk of accidents during this rainy weather due to the slippery conditions.
For postoperative care, attendants frequently lift severely ill patients on their shoulders. “What kind of hospital is this that requires us to lift surgery patients on our shoulders? Who would be accountable if an accident occurs while traveling?” an attendant questioned.
He claimed that the lift occasionally experiences technical difficulties and accused the authorities of protecting the private company in charge of the facility’s upkeep.
Critical patients who frequently need to go to the diagnostic labs on the first-floor struggle tremendously to get there. “Last night, we had to carry my patient, who had just been admitted, on our shoulders to the diagnostic labs for urgent testing. The hospital administration here is acting in the opposite way from what other hospitals are doing to ensure that critically ill patients receive prompt care,” another attendant said.
He said that the Government provides such facilities for poor patients but official apathy ruins every initiative. “Only security guards helped us in moving our patients while others were unmoved. We tried to bring up the issue with the doctors who pretended helplessness,” he said.
He added that patients’ problems are being made worse by the unavailability of emergency drugs at the hospital, which forces them to buy their medications from the market.
An official of the hospital said that the department had hired a private company for services and that they were in charge of carrying out the lift’s upkeep. “But the lift frequently gets stuck in a malfunctioning state. The company has received several complaints from the administration, but they keep delaying the matter,” an official said.
Medical Superintendent GMC Baramulla, Javid Iqbal told Excelsior that they would look into the matter. “I have asked the maintenance staff to immediately restore the service,” he said.
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