Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, June 4: Ensuring that the ailing, elderly people across Kashmir get holistic medical care without having to come to the hospitals, the Directorate of Health Services, Kashmir (DHSK) has started reaching out to such people at their doorsteps.
Under the program, which is already being executed, the concerned team of doctors which comprises geriatric specialists, physiotherapists, and others, hold camps in selected areas, and there they then reach out to the pre-selected elderly patients who are bed-ridden whose families are not in a position to take them to the healthcare facilities.
Officials told Excelsior that providing effective, one-roof facilities to the elderly people was a prime concern of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha who has taken a keen interest in implementing the same.
Dr. Mir Mushtaq, spokesperson DHSK said that the team of doctors has been tasked to hold camps in various blocks across Kashmir after every week, and in such blocks, there will be pre-identified patients who will get the necessary care from the team at their homes.
“Attending such patients at their homes is something new and has happened for the first time in Kashmir,” he said.
Earlier, such a camp was held in Batamaloo, and then on Friday, Geriatric Health Camp and Home visit for elderly citizens was held at Kenihama of Block Chattergam in Budgam where 150 patients above 60 years of age with different ailments were seen during the camp while as 8 others were identified for home visit.
Concerning the specialized manpower required for conducting such dedicated camps across Kashmir, the officials said that while there is a dearth of geriatric specialists across Kashmir, they are, however, utilizing the services of those available apart from training the medical officers for the same.
“The roasters of the geriatric specialists have been made and they have been tasked, along with other trained staff to visit various district hospitals to attend to the elderly patients,” Dr. Mushtaq said.
The DHSK has made it a point that: “Let them not come to us, but under the program, let us go to them”
While the program is already on, the authorities are planning to hold such camps in other districts as well in days to come. “The camps are done as per a proper plan while as such people are pre-identified first hand; as of now we are picking random places,” officials said.
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