| SDH Keller-Shopian; a hospital afflicted by multiple ills, diseases | | | Mohammad Mukaram
SRINAGAR, Aug 2: Lack of administration in Sub-District Hospital (SDH) in Keller of Shopian district has wreaked havoc to health care of poor patients of this hilly area, as doctors and paramedical staff run the hospital as per their wish and do not attend to their routine duties.
The newly built hospital equipped with x-ray, USG machines and modern laboratory has been rendered useless by the paramedical staff and few doctors, who in nexus with the clerical staff 'fix' their duties, while the latter practice in private clinics and hospitals, despite drawing huge salaries from government treasury. Having got about 7 doctors, including surgeons and assistant surgeons, and 5 newly recruited doctors, three NRHM doctors and 35 paramedics, thepatient care at the hospital is miserable.
Owing to its location in a remote, hilly area which has about 20,000 population and no immediate medical facility available, the hospital is significant for residents to take care of their primary health requirements.
Patients said that except few, doctors don't attend the hospital regularly and thus deprive them of the basic health care, and force them to go for private clinics and distant hospitals in Pulwama or in Srinagar. Squatted in the corridor as the hospital has no seating for them, dozens of patients waiting for the doctors to arrive, said that not to talk of ordinary checkups, even for emergency like maternity care the doctors don't come to visit the hospital. Patients also said facilities like drip sets, gauze, bandage, which are provided free by the health department, were not available to them and have to be bought from the market.No emergency surgery is done in the hospital as it has not blood bank. Injection section has not been fixed in any room in the hospital, and all maternity patients are referred to Pulwama of Srinagar.The hospital's own ambulance is defunct from the last few years and an ambulance has been donated by Mughal Road Project to the ferry patients to tertiary hospitals.Paramedical staff like nurses, seven in number, who are required to look after patients for dressing, injection etc., are rarely seen in the hospital, said Mohammad Yaqoob Chouhan, adding, that in their absence volunteers who don't have any training in health care 'take care' of the patients.
"Doctors, paramedical staff have a nexus with clerics who mark their every absent employee as present and in return get money from them. Lack of administrative set up has rendered the hospital useless for patients," sources in the hospital said."Surgeon comes twice in a week and perform two surgeries; anesthetist attends once in a week for two hours; operation theatre remains open on Monday only; gynecologists come for two preferred night shifts and then don't come for the rest of the week," sources said.Owing to the lack of any permanent head, the hospital is run by clerical staff which directs the volunteers to manage the hospital."Doctors and paramedical staff deliberately keep two night shifts so to take off for the rest of the week," sources said.The paramedical staff like nurses don't attend to the patients as they claim "we are doctors and cannot do dressing, injection etc.," said a patient, who was admitted in the hospital ward. |
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