Govt Model Hospital Dooru faces paramedic staff shortage

The patients at the Government Model Hospital, Dooru in this south Kashmir’s Anantnag district suffer due to the lack of paramedic staff.

The patients present at the hospital said the healthcare facility is facing a dearth of paramedical staff which is creating problems for the people of the area.

The hospital serves dozens of villages and has a large number of specialists and doctors. However, it lacks paramedical staff.

According to locals, the hospital was relocated to a new structure in 2020 after decades of operation as a Sub District Hospital in a building in Dooru town.

An official said people are satisfied with the hospital’s speciality and doctor strength, but insisted that the paramedical facility be upgraded.

“A doctor can prescribe medicines but there should be a crew of paramedics for the proper treatment of patients. Every day, we receive a large number of patients, and we don’t have enough employees to handle them,” he said.

The official said the hospital requires paramedical jobs. “We have only two pharmacists who have been here for years. Due to exceeding patient footfall, they are overburdened with their job,” he said.

Javaid Ahmad, a local, said the hospital authorities are undertaking internal changes that do not make sense in the long term. “There are no anaesthesia technicians at the hospital, but only one female gynaecologist. The patients suffer on her off days,” he said.

Earlier, the hospital used to have adequate paramedical staff, Javid said, adding, “But since the government ended employee attachment, it severely impacted this hospital. There should also be a separate ticket counter for senior citizens,” Javaid added.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Anantnag told Rising Kashmir that the hospital has adequate strength of staff and all the postings of the sanctioned employees are available. “I received a delegation from the area and wrote to higher authorities about it. We are shifting the CT technicians to this hospital for the full week now,” he said.

About the creation of posts, the CMO said that is subject to administrative permission. “Nonetheless, in terms of sanctioned posts, the hospital is fully staffed. We have enough faculty available, as per Indian Public Health (IPH) regulations,” he noted. Rising Kashmir