Anantnag: Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag, catering to hundreds of patients on a daily basis has failed to maintain the lifts, putting patients and their attendants into hassle.
Every day long queues of patients, along with their attendants, can be seen in the institute.
As per source, in July 2019, mechanical wing of Jammu & Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) conducted trail of the lifts in the four storey building of GMC. The trial was successfully conducted for two consecutive days.
But when the authorities were supposed to throw the facility open for patients and attendants, the lift suffered a technical snag rendering it dysfunctional. “Till date neither the medical college authorities nor JKPCC officials have bothered to set right the elevator due to which patients continue to face problems,” said an attendant Basharat Ahmad.
Another attendant Shabir Ahmad of Kulgam said : “The real difficulty is for emergency patients and their attendants who rely on lifts to reach the departments concerned. For example, lift is necessary for critical patients to reach the units on upper floors in the hospital.
The lift was installed in the hospital building right at the time of construction five years ago worth lakhs of rupees. The operation theater of the medical college is located in fourth floor of the building.
The GMC Anantnag which was earlier named as district hospital Anantnag is located in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district is catering to hundreds of patients on a daily basis.
Due to non-functioning of the elevator, critical patients are taken to the wards by their attendants climbing stairs which poses high risk to them. Many aged patients can be seen taking long rest while going up the stairs up to fourth floor.
“As the hospital’s elevator is not functioning, I had to carry my 62 year old father on a stretcher to the operation theater situated at an upper floor of the hospital,” said Shoaib Mohammad whose father remained under Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the institute.
Adding: “Doctors informed me that had there been a delay of even few minutes, my father else would have developed serious complications. Hospital management has failed to repair the elevator which has put the lives of patients at risk.
The patients and attendants complained that they had many times apprised the hospital authorities about the matter but they didn’t pay any heed towards their pleas. “The administration in the institute have turned blind eye towards the issues,” said an attendant Naseer Ahmad from Kokernag who claimed to have been in the hospital from two days.
A staffer posted in the medical college admitted that the defunct elevators in the institute put the patients at great inconvenience. “This is shocking that the elevators in the medical college never worked after they were setup. Since the operation theaters and post operative wards are located on the fourth floor of the building it suffers both the patients and attendants to reach there,” said the staffer.
Some medicos also expressed concern over inordinate delay in repairing the elevator. “If the elevator is not repaired at the earliest it could prove detrimental for patients,” said a doctor.
Despite repeated attempts principal GMC Anantnag, Dr. Showkat Geelani did not answer the repeated calls from the Kashmir News Trust.
However, an official inside the institute blamed the JKPCC for showing non-seriousness in repairing the elevators. (KNT)
