Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Jan 29: Much to the annoyance of the people, the District hospital Bandipora is operating without a Medical Superintendent for the last one month affecting the delivery of healthcare services in the area.
The lack of an administrator is taking a toll on the functioning of the hospital and deteriorating the healthcare scenario of the district. The staff seems direction less and hospital affairs have been left into lurch. The absence of the head has hampered the filling up of key posts comprising of orthopedic surgeon, ENT-specialist, senior consultant physician, and Pediatric consultant.
The hospital’s failure to get a replacement of doctors is hitting the patient care and forcing people to travel long distances for treatment. To overcome the deficiency, people complained, the patients are often referred to other hospitals which increases their risk factor. “For a minor injuries the people have to either travel to Srinagar or Sopore for treatment,” Bashir Ahmad, a local, said, adding some patients even visit private clinics for expensive treatment.
The patients complained that the hospital is lagging behind in every sector these days as no one is available to look after the hospital affairs. “Power outages often disrupts functioning of the hospital. From cleanness to conducting surgery everything is getting affected,” an official said, adding that there is no one available to listen to their grievances.
An official privy to the details said concerned Chief Medical Officer has been given additional charges of the Medical Superintenent. “The CMO is already over-burdened with work and he not able to do justice with the additional duties. The hospital would continue to face problems unless a full-time MS is deputed here,” he said.
Director Health Services Kashmir, Dr. Sameer Matto, when contacted told Excelsior that the department is aware about the fact and would soon depute an MS there.
Asked about the deficiency of the staff, he said that they are looking into the matter.
The people of the area have already been suffering on healthcare front as the construction work of the district hospital remains incomplete even after the passage of over a decade.
They said the new building was allotted to end the deficiency of the healthcare in the area as the existing infrastructure was below par and unable to cater to the needs of the people. “The hospital looks incomplete. I am unable fathom reasons behind the delay in the shifting of hospital,” Javeed Ahmad, a local resident said. The worst sufferers, he said, are the dialysis patients who are forced to move to other districts for the treatment despite the availability of the facilities in the hospital. “The dialysis machine is lying defunct in the hospital. What is the purpose of such facility if patients are unable to avail the benefits,” Bashir Ahmad, a local said.
As per the official figures the hospital was constructed with revised cost of over Rs28-crores in 2011, but has been facing scarcity of funds ever since.
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