With 16000 vacant posts, J&K’s healthcare system faces stress test

Srinagar, Aug 26: The Minister of Health and Medical Education, Sakina Itoo has been on a whirlwind inspections of hospitals In Kashmir over the past one month, assuring public of a “corrected system” and better doctor presence. Her proactive approach which appears to ensure that each and every one on rolls of Health Department is working to the optimum is appreciable, but ignores a fact that she herself acknowledged earlier this year- 16000 vacancies.

Notably, some of these posts have been recently advertised.

Many people in the healthcare system have voiced opinions that lament the inadequate staff to cater to patient load. A person well-versed with the functioning of the hospitals said that 16,000 vacant posts is the Achilles’ Tendon of J&K’s Govt Healthcare delivery. Most hospitals that form the backbone of healthcare delivery are grossly understaffed resulting in lop-sided doctor presence in key areas,” he said. Last month, the assualt on a doctor at SMHS Hospital has paved way for debates about the doctor-patient relationship.

The discussion, many feel, must rather be about doctor-patient ratio. The J&K Government in March this year painted a vivid but grim picture of the scenario. As per the figures revealed by Itoo in Assembly, the Directorate Of Health Services Jammu (DHSJ) has 980 gazetted and 2,937 non-aazetted posts vacant, while DHS and 2,937 posts vacant, while DHS (Kashmir) has 420 gazetted and 1,574 non-gazetted vacancies. The National Health Mission (NHM) has 305 gazetted and 1,422 non-gazetted posts unfilled. A

total of 7,873 people, who are needed in these Directorates to keep the hospitals running are not present. The directorates form the sole providers of primary and secondary healthcare delivery. At tertiary care level, the picture is no better: GMC Srinagar has 347 gazetted and 1,984 non-gazetted vacancies, GMC Jammu has 362 gazetted and 1,392 Non-gazetted vacancies, and newer GMCs are also running on skeltal staff. Even SKIMS Soura has reported having 60 percent of its posts vacant.

“Hospitals are running on fumes,” said a senior doctor at GMC Srinagar, requesting anonymity. “With the given load C patients, doctors are forced to handle 100-150 patients daily, far beyond the recommended 20, leading to exhaustion and definitely increasing the chances of errors.”

Not just doctors, the hospital’s are grossly short of technicians, paramedics, nurses and other allied staff. Many people working in hospitals belive that the poor outcomes are also equally attributable to the poor nurse-patient ratio and the acute shortages in all diagnostic areas of hospitals. “An ECG will take time because there is only one ECG for hundreds of  patients in emergency and one technician, a blood test will take time as the labs are short of staff, an injection will take time. Everything will take time as the sense or urgency is missing in everyone else apart from the patient. And one cannot blame the staff. They are not the ones making policies,” Mohammad Shayan, a Srinagar resident said.

This shortage lies at the heart of public grievances. Rural areas fare worse. "Emergencies mean a death sentence or a costly trip to Srinagar," said a resident of Kupwara, Irshad Ahmed. The WHO's recommended doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:1,000 is a distant dream in J&K, where it's closer to 1:3,500-4,000, especially in remote areas. The government's response has been more of a "knee-jerk reaction". Health Minister claims hospitals function smoothly, citing 365 Medical Officer appointments in November 2024 and 181 more in process through the JKPSC. Vacant posts are temporarily filled under SO 364 of 2020, and NHM staff fill in the blanks, to a little extent.

However, concrete steps taken by the Government to address the root cause of the crisis in hospitals, stakeholders believe, are missing. "Health Minister is asking why only four doctors are present in Pulwama DH. Well, given the strength of doctors in the hospital, that's exactly the number that will be available," a doctor in GMC Jammu said.