Poor health scenario! Shortage of anesthesia consultants hampers surgeries in Block Mandi, Surankote, and Mendhar; Without getting  DDO powers initially, MS started signing bills

Poor health scenario! Shortage of anesthesia consultants hampers surgeries in Block Mandi, Surankote, and Mendhar; Without getting  DDO powers initially, MS started signing bills

POONCH TODAY NEWS

POONCH: The government claims efficient healthcare infrastructure on the ground, but in the border district of Poonch, which recently witnessed a massive shelling from Pakistan, leading to the killing of thirteen people, the healthcare system is on the ventilator.

In the absence of anesthesia consultants, people of the blocks Mandi, Surankote, and Mendhar suffer a lot, as no major surgeries are conducted in these blocks for long, forcing the patients to move either to Poonch hospital or towards Jammu. Moreover, a B-grade anesthesia consultant was given the charge of Medical Superintendent Raja Sukhdev Singh Hospital Poonch, initially without DDO powers, but after assuming the charge, he started signing bills that were in violation of rules. He is the same anesthesia specialist who was seen in a viral video in which some officials were demanding money from the patients a couple of months back, and the same is available with “POONCH TODAY.” The anesthesia consultants needed to be posted in rural areas for conducting the major surgeries by specialized doctors if the government seriously thinks about the welfare of the people in far-flung areas. The health department in Poonch is not on track, as nothing lies in the order. Still, there are a number of officials who are not detached by the department after strict direction from the director health services, Jammu. A few employees have made a mockery of the system, as it seems that the department is running at the mercy of God. During Pakistani shelling targeted at Poonch city, one of the injured persons was treated badly, as his ear was not properly stitched, forcing him to rush to Jammu for better treatment. When the doctors at Jammu saw the condition of the said patient, they were astonished to witness the poor services of Poonch hospital. The health department in Poonch has become a department of blunders in which tainted people in all the blocks and at the district headquarters are seen calling the shots and have scripted multiple financial scams. Repeatedly projected by “POONCH TODAY” about the horrible state of affairs in the health department in Poonch, not a single action was taken by the government, and it seems that the government has taken lightly the concerns of the poor people of the district who suffer from various administrative inefficiencies in the department. Due to the absence of anesthesia specialists in every block  of the district in addition to the absence of more specialized doctors, the people of Poonch have been suffering a lot and are left with no option other than to go to Kashmir or Jammu for better healthcare facilities. The government is spending a lot on papers to strengthen the healthcare facilities in every district of J&K UT, but the ground conditions are different from the reality shown on the papers, and it shows that the health department in Poonch is not in the right hands.