SRINAGAR: The healthcare in Kashmir is craving for attention as it has considerably degraded from the last 30 years which has directly affected patients lives.
As per official account of the states healthcare scenario there are 3695 health care institutions, 4 medical colleges and 12000 beds for a population of more than one crore and has only 5900 doctors and more than thousands of posts of doctors are lying vacant under various categories. The paramedical staff is also not sufficient enough to cater thousands of patients in the state run hospitals.
Under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) program doctors and paramedical staff are engaged on contractual basis and most of the doctors are reluctant to work under these norms and in rural areas which are very far flung.
Hundreds of doctors move out from medical colleges every year but they are not absorbed in hospitals of the state as there are thousands of vacancies are vacant which are not be filled by the government as such ,said by a medical student of GMC Srinagar.
The patient care would definitely improve if vacancies are filled. No doubt, government is building hospitals but who will care for the patients, authorities need to think on this,she further added.
As per Medical Council of India (MCI) norms, there should be one nurse per seven beds but in Kashmir it is different situation one nurse attends the whole ward which is quite pathetic and bears direct affect on patient care.
The healthcare is quite grim in the state as 3500 patients are dependent on one health institution against 3097 patients in 2010-2014 and 2662 patients in 2000-01. The number of patients has risen considerably over the years which have downgraded the health institutions in Kashmir.
From the last 20 years, most of the hospitals in Kashmir are facing acute shortage of doctors and paramedical staff but nobody pays heed. Sometimes a single doctor has to attend a whole ward of patients and more importantly the doctors present in the emergency ward of hospitals are two or three which is not sufficient enough for such a large number of patients, said a local medico at Lal Ded hospital.
There is a dire need to fill vacancies of doctors and Para medical staff in the hospitals so that patient care can be improved and better care can be given at the hospitals, he added further.
DAK President Dr. Nisar-ul-Hassan said ,it is a lack of proper organizational management in the hospitals by which poor patients suffer the most. The tertiary care hospitals and peripheral hospitals of the State have become of no use as there is continuous downfall of health institutions in Jammu and Kashmir and it is because of administration and Governments lackadaisical attitude towards the society.
The main reason of poor healthcare in the State is because of private practice of doctors, less number of doctors available in the hospital and mismanagement on part of concerned authorities.
Despite many attempts, Director of Health and Deputy Director of health could not be contacted for further comments.
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