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| Shortage of doctors continues to affect healthcare in Kashmir valley | | | Mudasir Tariq
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 9: Despite lofty claims of successive state governments to develop the health sector by increasing the staff strength in hospitals, shortage of medicos and other staff in valley hospitals continues to affect the healthcare badly.
Over the years the dearth of doctors in valley hospitals has adversely increased the mortality rate; patients and attendants have to bear the brunt and are left to fend for themselves. Large number of serpentine queues outside the doctors' chambers in city's tertiary hospitals is a common scene.
"Many times a precious life can be saved if a patient is attended on time, a single doctor cannot look after thousands of patients, and in this phenomenon several people die who otherwise could have been saved if attended on time. There is shortage of manpower in hospitals while as the number of patients is increasing day by day," said Dr. Naveed Ilahi, a government surgeon.Owing to the continuous shortage of required staff in the hospitals to look after the patients effectively the doctor-patient ratio has considerably increased in the valley.
The ratio is said to be above the required standard thus clearly depicting a poor state of health.
"At present the doctor-patient ratio in the Kashmir valley is 1:1000 far below the World Health Organization (WHO) standard which requires the doctor-patient ratio to be 1:500," added Dr. Naveed. Surprisingly hundreds of posts of doctors and other medical staff are lying vacant while the successive governments showed lackadaisical approach to fill them. This is said to be the reason behind the fall of doctor-patient ratio in valley.
Meanwhile sources in the health department reveal that there is dearth of doctors in all districts of Kashmir division due to less rotation of doctors from Medical Colleges to the Directorate of Health Services and backdoor entry of paramedical staff."Many government doctors remain absent from their duties while as a good number of medical students search for greener pastures and move outside valley to earn handsomely, thus creating a deficiency of doctors. One more thing that is further deteriorating the healthcare is backdoor entry of non-professionals," said sources.
Sources said that Health Department is running short of nearly 570 doctors along with thousands of posts of specialists, assistant and surgeons, paramedical staff, nurses and class IV employees lying vacant. Ironically, owing to the lack of staff strength people of the rural Kashmir are the worst hit.
With hospitals lacking sufficient manpower, some patients who come from far flung areas had to return home without any checkup. In some cases, the situation has resulted in the scuffle between patients' attendants and doctors.Official estimates reveal that every day more than 10,000 patients visit various hospitals in the summer capital with only few dozens of doctors available to examine them. |
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