SAROOR
JAMMU: The tall claims of Jammu and Kashmir administration with context to enhanced and equipped health infrastructure in hospitals across the Union Territory can be well gauged with an official statistics of PGI Chandigarh that revealed that more than 65,000 patients from the Jammu and Kashmir visited their Outpatients Departments and as many as 2648 were treated in the emergency of one of the prestigious institutions of the country in the year 2022.
“As per official figures and health card of PGI Chandigarh, more than 65,000 patients consulted the battery of specialised doctors in the Outpatients Departments (OPDs) in the year 2022 and the figure is much higher than 2021 wherein 49,000 registrations were reported from Jammu and Kashmir,” official sources said.
They expressed that in 2022, total 23,06,375 patients visited different OPDs of PGI Chandigarh that included highest 8,86,546 from Punjab, 4,12,145 from Chandigarh, 4,05,710 from Haryana, 2,96,929 from Himachal Pradesh, 1,14,469 from Uttar Pradesh, 65,462 from Jammu and Kashmir and 24,889 from Uttarakhand.
“Call it a lack of health facilities and infrastructure or lack of faith in the doctors, but despite having seven Government Medical Colleges and two Cancer Institutes in Jammu and Kashmir, every year thousands of patients prefer to go outside in the neighbouring states particularly to Punjab for treatments,” sources added.
They also said that last year, 2648 patients were also admitted to the emergency ward of PGI Chandigarh, adding, “similarly, thousands of patients from Jammu and Kashmir, batting with chronic diseases, are visiting AIIMS Delhi for either diagnosis, specialised treatments or regular follow ups.”
Moreover, sources revealed that apart from government run hospitals and institutions, many people are getting treated in private hospitals that include names of big brands in the health sector.
As per health experts, around 3 to 4 lakh patients every year go outside Jammu and Kashmir to avail world class medical facilities,” adding, “from this year, medical colleges are also becoming operational in Udhampur and Handwara districts and Jammu AIIMS becoming fully functional in Vijaypur before March 2024.”
“Diagnosis is one of the key factors responsible for forcing patients from Jammu and Kashmir to trust on doctors in other parts of the country,” said an expert adding that until the specialised diagnosis facilities are not available in the hospitals, patients will not be able to get treated accurately and it is creating doctor-patient trust deficit.
“It is good that health infrastructure is being augmented across the Jammu and Kashmir but due to shortage of experts, confidence cannot be restored among the people,” they said adding that often poor management, non-availability of senior faculty leads to scuffle and verbal arguments between attendants and junior doctors, interns in the hospitals, which now has become a routine.
“Awareness campaigns are a must to restore the faith of our people and the administration must take a call on this serious matter because over a period of years, though gradually, facilities are improving in the government hospitals,” said a senior doctor, who wished not to be quoted.
He said, “yes, it is true that we are lacking in many areas and a lot needs to be done in the health and medical field but things are shaping up to make our hospitals as institutions like AIIMS or PGI Chandigarh so that patients get all the facilities in their hometown.”
