Wrong diagnosis September 12, 2013 9:41 pm One of the main reasons for the poor healthcare in J&K has been the wrong diagnosis of the problems. Last year, Srinagar’s pediatric care G B Pant Hospital was at the centre of the controversy following the increase in infant deaths. Everyone blamed G B Pant hospital authorities for the death. Nobody seemed to consider the fact that many of the infants who died at the tertiary care hospital were referred by the district hospitals. According to official data, hundreds of newborn babies have died or left with brain damage or other lifelong injuries due to negligence of inexperienced doctors and poorly supervised paramedical staff at various district hospitals of Kashmir. At least 38 newborn children have died at G B Pant Hospital in August due to Birth Asphyxia (disruption of oxygen to brain), Prematurity and Sepsis after being delivered in the district hospitals “by untrained medical and paramedical staff”. Among all the districts of Kashmir valley, Anantnag tops the list as 10 neonates referred from the district to the children hospital died in August. It is followed by district Baramulla (7) and Budgam (3). “Some of them are being reffered unnecessarily to the institute from various district hospitals immediately after birth.” The G B Pant children hospital received nearly 803 babies with Birth Asphyxia from district hospitals from January to June 2013 and 564 preterm babies during that period, according to the official documents. Notwithstanding the claims of successive governments to revamp the healthcare across the state, the hospitals in Srinagar, including G B Pant, continue to bear the ever growing burden of patents from different parts of the valley. This is bound to affect the efficiency of doctors and subsequently the patient care. The reliance on city hospitals stems from poor infrastructure in the sub-district hospitals and public health centres in rural areas. Besides, even if the infrastructure is in place, doctors dither to work in far off places thereby forcing people to seek treatment in the city. In the absence of proper monitoring, cases of medical negligence also go unnoticed. Hospitals like SMHS, SKIMS and G B Pant suffer from over-burden which ultimately tells upon their efficiency. Official figures indicate exponential increase in the patient flow at the city hospitals. The problems caused by the huge patient influx are further compounded by the lack of requisite infrastructure. Increasing bed strength won’t address the problem. The government should focus on strengthening the healthcare at all levels so that the city hospitals don’t have to bear the excess burden. There is also a dire need for effective monitoring of various health schemes so that common people can avail their benefits adequately. The authorities should ensure close vigil on the district hospitals
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 11:18:01 +0000
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