Srinagar, June 25 (KNS): Censuring prolonged shortage of staff at Sher-E-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, JK People's Party Chief Sheeban Ashai expressed serious concern over state of health care in Jammu & Kashmir.

Ashai in a statement issued to Kashmir News Service (KNS) said, "Over past one decade, hundreds of staffers have retired from SKIMS Soura and those posts are either lying vacant or have been rarely filled. It is common knowledge that patient load at the principal tertiary care hospital has increased manifold over past several years. Diversification of services, shortage of staff has enormously increased workload; thereby affected patient care in SKIMS.”

He said that paucity of nurses, technicians, paramedics at such a cardinal institution delineates heights of administrative failure, bureaucratic obduracy under present dispensation.

“At the Department of Pathology as per a report, there were around thirty five staffers most of them are retiring recently which leaves the department highly understaffed. Delay in pathology reports most particularly concerning diagnosis, detailing of life threatening medical problems might prove disastrous. About 300 posts of nurses are unengaged at the super speciality hospital, state of affairs can be gauged by the fact that work of four nurses is being entrusted to one.”

He added that hospital is immensely undermanned, huge vacancies have over-burdened existing staff. “Patient care doesn't only mean having access to right doctors but also getting expedient attention from support staff; from providing medicines to sanitized beds & wards, getting investigations on time".

He impressed upon LG Manoj Sinha and Secretary Health to immediately focus attention towards condition of health care in erstwhile state.

“Not only SKIMS but scores of medical facilities across length & breadth of Jammu & Kashmir demand immediate intervention. Party top brass asked present regime to come clean on statistics portraying doctor to patient ratio; answer pertinent questions determining number of hospital beds per thousand people.”

He added that shortage of hospital staff across several districts in Kashmir, infant mortality rate; rising deaths due to medical negligence.

He demanded that serious measures be undertaken to mitigate shortcomings in health sector of Jammu & Kashmir. (KNS)