G.B. Pant Hospital, the only infant hospital in Kashmir, has suffered devastation at the hands of September floods. Four months have passed when it happened, yet there are no convincing signs of its recovery and restoration to normal functioning. Nearly 38,000 infants have been brought to the hospital in post-flood period for treatment while most of the essential equipment like x-ray machine, echo cardiogram, blood bank and other essential laboratory equipment remain dysfunctional. Actually damages have been caused in two sectors; one is in the shape of damages to hospital equipment and machinery and the second is the infrastructure like sewage system, water supply system, cleanliness and administration.
There are conflicting reports about repairs to the hospital and restoration of essential equipment. The Medical Superintendent claims that 80 per cent of damages have been restored and that a new x-ray machine and Echo Cardiogram were supplied by some philanthropic persons in the city. Even if that is the fact, it does not mean that the hospital has been restored to complete normalcy. The floods had wrought havoc to the entire first storey of the hospital building and has, in particular, damaged the sewage system in a way that garbage and dirt from toilets overflows into corridors making the entire hospital stink foul. Rooms and corridors are full of filth and dirt. Senior doctors are away on winter vacation and juniors are not qualified to do the job which only senior doctors are supposed to do. Sanitary conditions are disastrous and in absence of proper equipment and preventive system, the danger of infection is very high because of crowds of people coming to attend and see the infant patients. Shortage of para-medical and medical staff makes a nurse look after as many as 24 beds in Ward 10 which is physically impossible.
It is a sad and distressing story that the damaged infrastructure of the hospital could not be restored so far. The hospital has no isolation ward so that babies with communicable diseases could be put separately.
People whose infants are admitted in the hospital for cure of ailments have complained of dismal and sordid condition of the hospital in regard to both medical attention and infrastructural condition. As the hospital had already come under scanner and disturbing reports on its functionality were brought to the notice of the public, we would exhort the Health Department to constitute a one-man inquiry committee to go into the nature of crisis in this hospital and submit a report within a week to the Government suggesting how overcall functionality and infrastructural conditions of the hospital can be improved. The Health Department should take it on priority.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel