Suhail Rather

Bandipora, Sept 18 (KNS): At the District Hospital Bandipora, patients wait in serpentine queues outside the ENT section, but treatment comes with a catch, the specialist is available to examine patients only one day a week. On another day, he is deputed to sit with the medical board, while the rest of the week he remains posted elsewhere.

The unusual arrangement has left the Bandipora Block's lone ENT service in name only. Residents say they travel from far-off villages hoping to consult a specialist, only to be told the doctor is unavailable. “Sometimes we wait from morning till afternoon, and then are told to return after a week. People with serious ailments cannot afford this,” a local resident said.

Officials admit that the footfall at the hospital has surged, especially with rising ENT cases linked to allergies, post-viral complications, and seasonal infections.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelYet, without a dedicated specialist, the hospital upgraded to district status years ago continues to depend on makeshift postings.

“Managing an entire district’s patients in a single day is impossible. The arrangement defeats the very purpose of posting a specialist,” said an insider from District hospital.

Locals have now demanded that the Health Department post a permanent ENT specialist at the hospital.

They said that Bandipora’s patients should not be forced to travel to Srinagar for routine treatment when the district already has a functional facility.(KNS)