Dismal state of healthcare: Bandipora district hospital without a cardiologist
Bandipora, Jul 4: People in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district are aghast against the health authorities for transferring the lone cardiologist from its district hospital.
The people in the district had heaved some relief with the posting of Dr Shahood Ajaz Kakroo, a consultant DM in Cardiology, bringing hopes among people who otherwise required to travel long distances for heart ailments. The posting had brought a sense of relief among people suffering sudden heart issues, which were now getting resolved at the hospital, reducing fatalities from heart attacks.
Notably, the doctor’s presence motivated the hospital administration to establish an intensive care ward equipped with eight ventilator beds to strengthen and manage "severe cardiac cases."
The unit, with the doctor’s help, by April this year, as per official figures shared, had treated 83 myocardial infarction (heart attacks) patients under the Save Heart' initiative through thrombolysis.
The number, which insiders suggest, has more than doubled by now. The facility, along with other units like "emergency triage," as per official claims, had reduced the tertiary referral rates.
The doctor’s expertise motivated the former administrators of the hospital, Masarat Iqbal, with the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner and NHPC, to procure an echocardiogram machine and inaugurate it with much fanfare in presence of the Deputy Commissioner Bandipora, Manzoor Ahmad Qadri, at the hospital recently on June 27 to fully utilise the expertise of the cardiologist.
The machine was procured for the doctor to conduct echo heart and other functions to boost "early diagnosis and affordable care."
The doctor had also started conducting heart tests via the machine every Friday on a routine basis, while also being kept for emergency purposes.
However, with the transfer, the unit has fallen silent and hopes of patients who had started seeking cardiac care at the hospital have been dashed.
"There is no such expert who can operate the ecocardiogram," insiders told Greater Kashmir, suggesting the unit has now rendered nonfunctional after the government's transfer orders.
Many quarters, including civil society, activists, former politicians, and people in large have expressed "shock" over the transfer, with many questioning that "Bandipora remains an least priority," for those at the helm of the affairs.
Secretary to the Government, Syed Abid Rasheed and Director Health Services Kashmir, Jehangir Bakshi, did not respond to queries from this correspondent.
Chief Medical Officer Bandipora, Ishtiyaq Naik, said that he had met the Director Health on Thursday and shared with him "concerns raised by the locals about the transfer."
He said, the "Director told him me that will take up the matter with the secretary." But there seems no clarity if there will a replacement or not as the hospital already grapples with lack of staff, specialists doctors as it functions at Sub district hospital capacity.
Notably, a Medical Superintendent posted to the hospital did not join duties for nearly a month. After protests, the government provided DDO orders to CMO before giving additional charge of MS to DIO Bandipora to look after the hospital, a day ago.
