Waseem Ahmad
SRINAGAR, Aug 7: Dearth of staff at Government Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Uri in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district is taking a heavy toll on the lives of patients in the area and forcing them to cover long distances for treatment.
The hospital caters to 43 villages of the Uri block with about 76,000 population and about 400 patients visit every day in the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the hospital but shortage of staff is impacting the patient care in the area.
The locals alleged that in absence of the required staff in the hospital, they are forced to visit private clinics or other hospitals and spend huge amount of money for treatment. “The non-availability of the specialist doctors and other staff in the hospital is taking a heavy toll on the patient care here. We are forced to take patients either to the Baramulla hospital or Srinagar hospitals. We have to spend huge amount of money on private clinics as well”, Ghulam Qadir, a resident of Uri said.
As per sources, 16 posts of Medical Officers and 33 posts of paramedical staff are vacant. Besides, the hospital is facing shortage of staff including Gynecologist, General Physician, Dental Surgeon and Paediatrician.
Sources said that the only Gynecologist who has been posted in SDH Uri hardly attends patients in the hospital as he has been attached to District Hospital Baramulla and he spends three days in the Uri hospital and three days in the Baramulla hospital.
Meanwhile, the locals of the area while showing resentment over non-availability of a Gynaecologist and the Dental Surgeon in the hospital said that they have to face immense hardships in absence of the doctors. “For a simple check up, we have to take pregnant women either to Srinagar hospitals or private clinics. Same is the case with the people having dental issues. We are suffering a lot in absence of the doctors,” locals said.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Baramulla, Bashir Ahmad Chalkoo while admitting the lack of staff in the hospital said that the entire district is facing shortage of doctors as well as other staff and efforts are on to post the required staff in the hospitals of the district.
“About 250 posts of doctors are vacant in the overall district and efforts are on to fill the posts as soon as possible. In SDH Uri, some doctors have gone for the higher studies and they have been relieved as per the court orders. Although, the department was not willing to relieve them but they brought in directions from the court and we have to relive them for the higher studies. Besides, we have roped in other staff from National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and they will be joining the hospital within a month,” he said.
Asked about the issue of Gynaecologist, the CMO said: “The night surgery is not possible at SDH Uri as the hospital lacks such facilities. So, to curtail the referral of such patients from Baramulla district to Srinagar, we have kept the gynaecologist in the District Hospital Baramulla so that the patients referred from Uri hospital are operated here and do not go out of the district.”
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