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| Over crowded Paediatrics section of SMGS Hospital | | One bed for three patients, with mothers also sleeping there | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Jan 28
The pediatrics section in the SMGS Hospital Jammu, attached to Government Medical College Jammu, is highly over-crowed with a very large number of child patients coming to the hospital, particularly in the extreme cold weather of this winter. The present bed strength of the hospital as well as the strength of doctors and nursing staff falls much short to cope with the rush.
The hospital has the sanctioned 200 bed strength in five paediatrics wards, including the emergency ward and the intensive care unit, while the occupancy in average is 200 per cent that is double than the number of beds available. On occasions the number of child patients crosses 500 to 600, with each bed accommodating 2 to 3 children at a time. With mothers of the infants, accompanying the patients also occupying the beds as well the male attendants sleeping on the floor besides the beds, the wards present a picture of crowds huddled together, where the patients instead of getting cured are further exposed to getting infected of contagious diseases. The emergency ward of the hospital is particularly highly suffocated, where even taking breath becomes to difficult.
The wards present unhygienic conditions due to being over crowded and as a result of suffocation, despite periodic cleaning and sanitation being carried. With large number of attendants of the child patients using the attached lavatories, the same are stinking. With pipes and taps leaking, on occasion one witnesses pool of water in the toilets. It is notwithstanding that the same are cleaned and water soaked three to four times a day.
A skeleton staff of doctors, despite their best efforts and handing the situation quite efficiently, remaining on their tip toe through out the duty period, can hardly do justice with their job. There is the sanctioned strength of eight faculty members that is qualified doctors with 50 per cent vacancy and post not filled. At present there are only four faculty members to treat 400 to 500 patients. Besides these faculty members 19 post graduate students man the Paediatrics section of the hospital.
The extra rush of children inflicted with various diseases in SMGS Hospital of Medical College Jammu is despite the fact that all the district hospitals and those in other towns have child specialists. The parents of the patients however prefer rushing to the SMGS hospital, with the hope for better medical care, rather than admitting their children in the nearest or district hospital. No doubt the doctors including the medical students deployed to treat the patients render their job with utmost compassion and concern for the well being of the patients, yet their shortage in number at a time creates problems.
What is still more concerning is the total inadequacy of nursing staff. According to the norms there should be one nurse catering to three beds. But the SMGS hospital which has a total bed strength of 570 for all the sections of paediartic gynecology, ENT and skin patients, has hardly 300 nurses. At any single time there would be a total strength of 100 nurses, coping with the rush of patients. According to the superintendent of the hospital, in average 75 deliveries are performed daily in the Gynecology section of the hospital.
With most of the patients coming from rural areas and being not so educated, unable to read thermometer, the nurses too do not take temperature of the patients periodically, which is a dire necessity in keeping with the norms of Medicare.
It is hoped that with the additional providing of 200 beds in the Paediatric section, the construction work of wards and rooms of which is going on at present, the things will improve to some extent. But what is required is the more strength of qualified and experienced doctors and more so of the nursing staff. Although some of the nurses are well behaved and fully conscious of their duty, performing the same with smiling face, trying to treat the child patients with full love and humour a few ill tempered nurses always grumbling and shifting the responsibilities on others, spoil the whole atmosphere.
The hospital canteens, three in number provided, to cater to the needs of the attendants of the patients throw all norms to the wind. Although carrying of polythene bags and smoking is strictly prohibited within the hospital premises and the same is written at several places as well as the Red Cross volunteers regularly check sneaking in of poly bags or cigarette and tobacco at the gates, the canteen boys are invariably seen smoking bidi or cigarette. The canteens also serve eatables in poly bags, particularly when the same are to be carried in the wards. These also serve unwholesome and junk eatables, stored for days together. |
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