Irfan Tramboo
Srinagar, Dec 1: While the authorities have failed to shift the operation of the Chest Disease Hospital to Sonwar, patients continue to suffer, facing multiple issues, particularly in the emergency section of the facility.
Due to the rush, people are also encountering problems in the OPD section, with limited space and blocks available for attending to them.
Those in the emergency section face access issues, making it almost impossible for severely ill patients to avail necessary treatment.
This reporter witnessed a wheelchair-borne elderly patient being lifted by two attendants to bring him down from the High Dependency Unit (HDU), situated on the first floor of the hospital’s emergency and OPD section.
The situation contrasts with what the administration is doing on the other hand, employing the use of technology across hospitals in J&K to make patient care seamless.
The hospital setup, especially in the emergency section, makes access for severely ill patients almost difficult, while attendants also face issues in ensuring their patients receive proper medical care.
“This block isn’t in any way patient-friendly; patients admitted to the emergency section or even the HDU have to be brought down by lifting them; there is no ramp on this side. There is a ramp towards the side of the wards, but this section gives a tough time to the patients as well as the attendants,” said Sajad Ahmad, an attendant.
Once you get the patient down through the stairs, he said, you have to face the OPD rush. “There you have to make your way out through other patients, making it cumbersome.”
People also raised the issue of unhygienic conditions in crucial sections of the hospital. “Wards are properly maintained, but the HDU and the emergency care does not have the proper hygiene being maintained, exposing patients further to infections,” Muhammad Rafiq, an attendant at the hospital, said.
It is to be noted here that the Government has already handed over the building of Children’s Hospital, Sonwar, to the authorities of the Chest Disease Hospital after the former was shifted to the newly constructed Paediatric Hospital at Bemina. However, so far, the operation has not been entirely shifted to Sonwar due to unknown reasons.
Earlier, the authorities had informed that they were in the process of starting the operations at Sonwar; but, the same has not been done yet as almost all the operations are currently on at CD Hospital, Dalgate.
On the other hand, insiders who are aware of the developments stated that the Sonwar building is not suitable for COPD patients, and there are a number of issues that the administration is facing.
“This is leading to a delay in the shifting process and raising questions as to why these issues were not discussed when the decision was made to shift the CD Hospital to Sonwar,” they said
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