Lack of medical staff mars PHC Shuhama’s 24×7 functioning
Patients Suffer, People Say Their Repeated Pleas Ignored
Srinagar, Sep 3 : Residents of Shuhama and adjoining areas on Saturday said that they face tremendous difficulties in absence of 24×7 medical facilities. There is a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in the area but “lack of staff” renders it “pointless” when it comes to round the clock medical facilities, they said.
“The day care is managed by whatever staff is present there but we face lot of issues during night time even for minor medical emergencies,” a delegation of the people from the area told GNS.
“We are forced to take a patient to either to SKIMS Soura or District Hospital Ganderbal,” they said, adding, “Sometimes time plays a critical role and delay could prove detrimental for the overall wellbeing of the patient,” they said.
Shuhama PHC, they said, caters to a large pollution of around 30000 people and as such having round the clock facilities “is more imperative than choice”.
The delegation said that several communications have been made in this regard to the concerned authorities but to “no avail”. Sources said that the PHC exists to be a 24×7 facility on papers since 2012.
A senior medical officer of the concerned district told GNS that there was dearth of staff to run a 24X7 facility at PHC Shumana.
“At least 45 people from different fields including medical officers, nursing staff etc are required to run a 24×7 facility but at present there is not even one-fourth it,” the officer said, adding, “The day care is managed utmost satisfaction but to run it 24×7, there is not adequate staff at present.”
Asked if any proposal has been made to the government for making the PHC a 24×7 facility, the officer said that “not one but several of them have been sent in the past.”
“Only a month back, there was an application by the residents of Shuhama for making it a 24×7 facility. Even the issue was raised at a recent DDC level meeting. The application and the recommendations at the DDC level have been sent to the concerned quarters but nothing concrete has transpired hitherto.”
Official sources told GNS that a PHC is always required to be a 24×7 facility and “most of them, if not all are so on papers only.” “There are 19 PHCs in Ganderbal district alone but hardly anyone functions 24×7.”