Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Sep 1: Amid non-stop referrals from districts, Srinagar’s oldest tertiary care—Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital is over-burnt as the hospital has treated over one lakh patients in the month of July this year alone.
Officials said that despite repeated requests and the policies framed by the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir, patients in large numbers from districts all over Kashmir having their own vehicles come to SMHS even for mild ailments let alone major illness.
“We can’t deny treatment to anyone coming to the hospital,” the official said, adding that the fact remains that the SMHS remains over burned throughout the year and one of the major causes for that is non-stop referrals and unnecessary arrivals from all districts across Kashmir.
Amid huge rush, patients alleged that they feel shortage of trolleys and wheelchairs. Many others alleged that they couldn’t even get a space to relax or sit down. A large number of attendants also said that they had to spend hours in queues to get an OPD ticket.
Ab Gani Bhat, a patient said that that patients had to wait for hours together to get beds in some wards. According to him, similarly patients have to wait for hours to get trolleys in order to reach the ward. He said that the rush of patients at the hospital has increased but they are not getting all the facilities. Also, several patients and attendants shared the same concern insisting for increasing facilities.
A senior health official at SMHS hospital said that just because the hospital offers all facilities under one roof, patients having their own vehicles continue to arrive in large numbers every day. “In the month of July this year, the hospital recorded the arrival of over one lakh patients,” he said, adding that the hospital is the lone tertiary care hospital to care for such a large number of patients on a monthly basis.
Asked about rush in the emergency ward, officials said that as Triage ward is under construction due to which emergency appears congested. The official said the 18 bed ward will be made functional by September 15.
