Bijay Charak
JAMMU, Oct 18: Despite Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's recent statement that asked people to donate blood and save precious lives, the Health department has failed to repair blood storage refrigerators at Community Health Centre (CHC), Hiranagar. The machinery is gathering dust since 2008.
Reliable sources informed Early Times that the Blood Storage Unit (BSU) is lying defunct due to the out of order blood storage refrigerator, which was sanctioned in 2008. As a result of this, people of Hiranagar and adjoining areas are forced to shifted patients to district hospitals and Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) here.
Criticizing the State Government, sources further said that the claims of the Government and Health Minister in this regard had proved to be wrong. What to talk of basic infrastructure and manpower, even after nearly two years of sanctioning of BSUs in three community health centers including CHC Billawar, CHC Basohli and CHC Bani, none has started working.
Sources said though the machinery was available in the CHCs but had been lying unused, creating a lot of inconvenience to patients, who need blood.
Criticizing the delay in establishment of BSUs, a doctor working in a CHC said that there were numerous cases of delivery, accidental cases besides others in which surgery needed to be done but due to the absence of BSUs, all such cases were referred to district hospital, Kathua, or GMCH, Jammu.
Though several organizations have time and again staged protests against the referral system in vogue in Jammu province, the administration has failed to ensure basic facilities.
A doctor at GMCH, Jammu, said that if adequate facilities would be provided in all primary and tertiary health institutions, the workload in GMCH would reduce and patients would get treatment at their doorsteps.
When contacted, Block Medical Officer, Dr Omkar said that he had many times forwarded letters to higher authorities to repair or replace the blood storage refrigerator, but any action was yet awaited. |
