Deficiencies in infrastructure, bed strength, patient load
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Jan 4: The surprise inspection conducted by a team of the National Medical Commission (NMC) at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi (SMVD) Institute of Medical Excellence has exposed serious deficiencies in hospital infrastructure, bed strength, patient load and faculty availability, raising serious concerns over the institute’s adherence to mandatory norms prescribed for Medical Colleges.
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Sources said that one of the most glaring deficiencies observed by the NMC team pertains to the non-availability of the mandatory minimum of 250 general beds in the attached teaching hospital (SMVD Narayana Hospital).
During the inspection, it was purportedly found that the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital mainly comprises superspeciality beds, which do not qualify as general beds under NMC regulations. Inspecting team found that general beds were largely reflected on paper and signage, while actual availability on ground was grossly inadequate, sources added.
It was further observed that the hospital has a predominance of private and semi-private rooms with one or two beds each. To show compliance with bed norms, additional beds were placed in a few rooms. However, the NMC team found that the room sizes were insufficient and the mandatory distance between beds was not maintained, making such arrangements non-compliant with prescribed standards.
Further, the inspection team also noticed inadequate patient load in several core clinical departments. As per NMC norms, adequate speciality-wise OPD attendance and indoor patients are mandatory for clinical teaching. However, departments like General Surgery, Gynaecology and Paediatrics were found to have very low patient footfall and admissions, sources said.
In addition, the NMC team reportedly found that essential infrastructure, including office spaces and academic facilities required for the Medical College, was lacking. Hostel facilities were found to be makeshift in nature, with adjustments made to create an impression of compliance.
Sources said that the NMC team also detected shortfall in the faculty strength, which was less than the required number of Senior Residents and Tutors crucial for undergraduate medical education.
The findings of the surprise inspection are likely to have serious ramifications for the SMVD Institute of Medical Excellence, which is under fire for admission to non-Hindu students and consequent agitation by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti- a RSS backed conglomerate of various organizations, demanding cancellation of these admissions.
As exclusively reported by the Excelsior, a special team of National Medical Commission (erstwhile Medical Council of India) had conducted surprise inspection of the SMVD Institute of Medical Excellence and Narayana Super-speciality Hospital on January 2, 2026. The NMC team thoroughly inspected the infrastructure of Medical College as well as the Narayana Hospital and purportedly detected several deficiencies there. The NMC team had visited administrative blocks, class rooms, laboratories, hostel, hospital wards, Operation Theatres, Out Patient Department and other units. Besides conducting inspection, the visiting team also did videography/photography of the infrastructure and documented the records.
The NMC team is likely to submit its observations in the form of a report to the National Medical Commission by Tuesday for further action.
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