Referrals must be curbed

The tertiary care hospitals in Srinagar are usually witnessing a huge rush of patients from the local areas here, but what adds to the chaos is the referrals from the other district hospitals here as a report has mentioned that at least 50,000 referral cases from district hospitals have been received annually at the tertiary care hospitals in Srinagar, thus simultaneously putting an extra burden on them. The government has already taken a series of measures to ensure that the healthcare facilities are increased at the health facilities across Jammu & Kashmir, but unfortunately the unnecessary referrals from the district hospitals has been putting an extra burden on the territory care hospitals here. As per the data, Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura alone has been receiving more than 18,000 referral cases per year while Lal Ded Maternity Hospital handles over 10,000 referral cases annually and SMHS Hospital receives about 3500 such cases. The Bone and Joint Hospital here receives 18% of patients as referrals. Such an issue has come to the fore at a time when the government has already asked the hospitals to curb the practice of referrals as it puts a huge load on the tertiary care institutions besides under-utilisation of district-level manpower and facilities. The health institutions of J&K were asked to submit a monthly report of referrals from the Directorates of Health Kashmir and Jammu and the Government Medical Colleges of Srinagar and Jammu. It is the time when the government needs to take strict note on the huge referrals from district hospitals and must issue strict directions in this regard so that the extra burden on the tertiary care hospitals are put to an immediate end and the better health care services are ensured to the patients in the hospitals here.