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| Overburdened junior doctors handle critical patients | | 'Seniors desert JVC OPDs' | | Ishtiyaq Ahmad
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Aug 27: It's 9 a.m and about 100 patients are waiting outside the OPD block of JVC hospital, run by Sher- I- Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS). each one desperate for his or her turn to meet a doctor at the out-patient department (OPD).
The OPD opened an hour later, the patients and their family ran towards the OPD, where guards reorganized them into queues.
For the next three hours, one of the Patients Zona Wife of Habib-Ullah with the acute chest infection waited for, HOD chest disease for consultation, but she was only told that the doctor is not available.
"I suggest you that it is better to meet him at his private clinic at Nundresh colony Bemina Srinagar," one of the junior doctors of the hospital suggests this patient.
When this ET reporter visited the hospital, he was also asked to meet this doctor at his private clinic.
The hospital authorities told Early Times that, scores of patients of Chest disease reach this hospital's OPD daily but in the absence of similar senior doctor, most of them prefer not to consult the junior doctors and return home. "I can tell you that the concerned OPD is always on the mercy of junior doctors," one of the official of the hospital admitted.
The junior doctors of the valley hospitals complained that in the past one month of violence, their families are in constant distress as the hospitals are burdened with patients, resulting in longer working hours for them.
Patients complain that OPD of , LD Hospital, Bone and Joint Hospital, Children Hospital and Chest Diseases Hospital remain without senior doctors all the time. "The senior doctors do not have time for the OPD's, because they are busy at private hospitals and clinics. And the authorities of hospitals have also failed to make the senior doctors punctual in performing their duties," patients said.
Insiders said the trend has become a serious problem as the hospital managements have no choice but to run the OPD units with junior doctors. "The OPD's are overburdened with increasing number of patients in these days. But the problems of the critical patients multiply when they are unattended or given wrong treatment by relatively inexperienced doctors," one of the health official said.
According to the health experts, the initial hours of serious patients are extremely critical and need extra medical care and expertise. But due to non-cooperation of the senior consultants most of the hospitals fail to properly handle these patients.
Sources said that a majority of junior doctors are working beyond their roster and dozens of them have stayed in hospitals for weeks together to treat the patients.
Senior doctors have been staying away, leading to depression and other stress-related health problems for the junior doctors, particularly female doctors, the junior doctors maintained.
Psychiatrists accepted that the work-family conflict was, in a large part, due to junior doctors having "too much to do in too little time". Sources said that, long working hours; high-stress environment has led to various psychiatry and adjustment problems among junior doctors.
Sources said that these doctors are said to be taking psychiatric treatments.
"Dr Sahib" has been unwell for the past two months. He has gone into a shell, and doesn't talk to any of his family or friends. He didn't even talk to me over the phone much for the past four weeks." remarked 32 -year-lady a wife of one of the doctors of JVC hospital.
Confirming the fact that junior doctors are overworked and stressed, one of the senior health official said that most of these doctors are doing 18-hour shifts and even longer sometimes. "The pressure is too much to handle, as a result of which many residents have signs of sleep deprivation and depression," he said, adding that during the times when work pressure mounts beyond one's control, the residents come to each others' rescue. |
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