Big hospitals are usually provided with well equipped critical care ambulances to carry critical patients from one place to another place for better medical treatment and services. Very often, critical patients in the Government Medical Hospital and College are referred to specialists in Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana or Delhi. They can be carried only in well equipped critical care ambulances (CCA) and not in ordinary motor cars. GMCH Jammu was incepted in 1973. It has only one CCA and that too has become partly outdated. Only highly influential people and Ministers are provided the facility of CCA on demand. For ordinary people in need of moving their patients to a different city or hospital of specialty, they have no option but to hire a private CCA which charge exorbitant rates not within the reach of a customer of ordinary standard.
The situation in the GMCH in regard to CCA is very dismal. There seems to be a nexus between the hospital authorities and the private owners of CCAs. The private ambulance owners charges rates according to their sweet will beause there is no control of hospital authorities on their activity. The nexus is so strong that the private CCA are now parking their vehicles inside the hospital, something that is not permissible.