Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jul 23: Unnecessary referrals of patients from districts to tertiary care hospitals goes unchecked in Kashmir putting burden on men and machinery at the hospitals.
Doctors posted at tertiary care hospitals in Srinagar said that unnecessary referrals of patients from sub district and district hospitals is over burdening these hospitals.
“We receive dozens of patients on a daily basis who can be managed at sub-district and district hospitals easily but they are being referred here,” said a doctor working at SMHS Hospital.
He said that there is a difference of facilities available at district hospitals and tertiary care hospitals but most of the time around 30 percent of patients are being referred unnecessarily who can be easily treated at sub district and district hospitals.
Doctors said that so far the government has issued many circulars in order to avoid unnecessary referrals but the ground situation remains the same.
They said that the government has already improved the infrastructure status of peripheral hospitals of peripherals but it must be improved further so that doctors won’t give any excuse and unnecessary referrals can be avoided.
In May, the government had ordered an audit of all referrals from district level hospitals to tertiary care hospitals in order to optimize the manpower available in peripheries and patient services across the healthcare system.
Medical superintendent SMHS Hospital Dr Kanwaljeet Singh said that if they question patients about referrals, it makes attendants violent.
“There are some patients who can be treated at district and sub district hospitals but are referred to tertiary care hospitals,” he said.
