This Anantnag hospital has no blood bank, specialist doctors, digital x-ray…

Seer Hamdan (Anantnag), Jan 08:The crucial Sub-District Hospital (SDH) in Seer Hamdan, Anantnag, which caters to a major population of the district, lacks in basic in and out-patient facilities.
A simple visit to the hospital reveals how patients suffer due to lack of basic medical care including a proper casualty ward, a blood bank, specialist doctors, and digital x-ray machines.
The situation remains so even as the hospital is the first major point of healthcare for residents living in Pahalgam, Aishmuqam, Salia, Nambal, Mattan, Hutmura, Nagbal and another dozen villages of the district.
As such patients visiting the hospital have to be referred to district hospital, which is 15 kilometres afar.
The so-called casualty ward, comprising just 3 beds, lacks in space, equipment and doctors.
Juxtapose with the overall size of the hospital building and the number of patients visiting the hospital, this ward, around 15X15, is too small to accommodate all the patients.
“We do not have a full-fledged casualty ward. As such we are not able to provide proper treatment to the patients,” a doctor at the hospital said wishing not to be named.
A nurse in the hospital said it also lacks a blood bank.
“Pregnant women, who need blood, suffer at the time of their delivery, and at times the delay in shifting them to the district hospital proves fatal,” she said.
Similarly, the dental section of the hospital is also facing the issue of space and equipment.
An official at the dental section said that the hospital authorities had, for long, demanding essential equipment, however, the same was never provided.
The hospital also lacks in digital X-Ray machine forcing the patients to shell their money at private centers offering the service.
Apart from the facilities, the doctors at the hospital rue of lack of security.
“On simple issues, patients, at times, harass and beat us. There is no security at the hospital,” another doctor, who too wished anonymity, told The Kashmir Monitor.
A surgeon at the hospital said he did not have required equipment to perform laparoscopic surgeries even though they had been demanding the same for a long a time.
In addition, there is no orthopedic, ENT, and other specialists at the hospital.
The concerned Block Medical Officer (BMO) Dr. Mohammed Ashraf Padder, denied that SDH Seer Hamdan lacked in the mentioned facilities.
“There are many specialists and the hospital does not face any shortage of doctors. In fact it is one of the best Sub-District hospitals,” he claimed.