Hospital authorities ring a bell for DC’s intervention, CMO denies complaints
By: Ahmed Shabir
Anantnag: The ‘unnecessary and unjustified’ referrals to Maternity and Child Hospital (MCH) Anantnag is putting a huge burden on the hospital amid the prevalent Covid situation across Jammu and Kashmir, the hospital administration has said in a letter to Deputy Commissioner(DC) Anantnag.
In a letter addressed to DC Anantnag, MCH authorities have stated that the unnecessary referrals of pregnant women from Sub District Hospitals without being tested for Covid have been overburdening the hospital. “These referrals are making it difficult for MCH authorities to tackle the huge patient rush at the space starved health facility.”
To stop or at least minimize the ‘unjustified’ referrals, the MCH authorities have sought intervention of Deputy Commissioner Anantnag and urged him to direct the district health authorities to monitor the healthcare activities by the field staff so that patients do not suffer.
The sole maternity and child hospital of south Kashmir is functioning from an unsafe building located in congested Sherbagh locality. The building besides having been declared unsafe is also facing the severe space crunch. The hospital caters to the patients from almost all the four southern districts besides parts of Jammu including Banihal and Kishtwar in summers. The hospital for the last two years has been working under the administrative control of medical college Anantnag.
Though the authorities have decided to shift the hospital to a trust owned Rahmat-e-Alam hospital which had been taken over by the government along with its liabilities and assets four years ago, the construction of the same still remains incomplete.
Sources in the hospital said that the unnecessary referrals from sub-district hospitals and even district hospital Kulgam is not only troubling the doctors but further agonizing the patients who develop complications but are referred to Srinagar for non-availability of beds at the facility.
“We receive dozens of patients on a daily basis who can be managed at SDHs easily. As a result of these unnecessary referrals we many a time are forced to refer those complicated cases needing immediate care to Srinagar due to the non-availability of beds,” a para-medic at MCH told Precious Kashmir.
Deputy Medical Superintendent of MCH, Dr Mir Ji Andrabi has also voiced his concern in a detailed letter to DC Anantnag, Dr Piyush Singla seeking his intervention in stopping the unnecessary referrals from other hospitals.
In the letter which is in possession of Precious Kashmir, Dr Andrabi rued that the staff at the peripheral institutions like SDHs and PHCs come to duties late and leave early.
“These hospitals refer even normal patients who can be easily managed there to MCH,” the letter reads.
In the letter the MS has also given details about the normal deliveries and C-sections conducted at the facility since last year.
“3296 C sections and 2551 normal deliveries have been performed at the hospital in 2020-2021 with 231 only in the month of April. 90 percent of these surgeries were uncomplicated,” the letter reads.
In the letter, MS further complains that the staff in these hospitals do not even conduct the COVID-19 tests of these pregnant women which becomes a continued source of infection.
The letter has been copied to the Director Health Kashmir and CMO Anantnag.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Anantnag, Dr Mukhtar denied that SDHs and PHCs are referring such patients to MCH.
“Our hospitals have performed two times more deliveries than MCH in the last two years. Many patients from rural areas prefer to deliver at MCH either normally or through C section as they think it has more facilities available. This hospital is like LD for south Kashmir and our doctors in rural areas cannot stop patients from going to MCH,” CMO told Precious Kashmir.
He said that MS of the MCH has written such letters in the past as well.
