Peripheral healthcare in shambles as Sr Consultants not posted in districts
Srinagar: The claims of the government of providing good healthcare facilities in peripheries falls flat on ground as half of the sanctioned posts of Senior Consultants are lying vacant affecting the health services badly.
As per data available with ‘Kashmir Vision,’ against a total number of 29 sanctioned posts of Senior Consultants for peripheries, 15 are in position while as 14 posts are lying vacant, depicting a grim picture of the healthcare at the peripheries.
The districts which currently have been deprived of the services of the Senior Consultants include: Bandipora, Kargil, Kulgam, Ganderbal and Shopian.
On the other hand, there are also good numbers of physical vacancies yet to be filled in case of Consultants, where there is total number of 457 sanctioned posts, 346 are in position and 111 vacancies are lying vacant.
As per data available on DHSK website, in Kulgam alone, the infrastructural strength is: 1 District Hospital, 1 Emergency/Trauma Hospital, 3 Sub District Hospital SDH / CHC, 19 Primary Health Centre PHC / MMC, 25 New Type PHC and 117 Sub Centres.
The manpower that has been left to cater to this much of infrastructure is 125, which includes 13 Consultants, 0 Senior Consultants, 79 Medical Officers, 24 Dental Surgeons and 9 Administrative posts, and interestingly the total population of District Kulgam, as per 2011 census is 422,786.
However, what was observed while examining the data, district Anantnag, with the population of 1,078,692, has got 4 Senior Consultants and at the same time, district Baramulla which has got the population of 1,008,039 souls has been left with only 1 Senior Consultant, a move which seems highly irrational.
A step ahead, when it comes to the comparison of the infrastructural strength of these two districts, data reveals that district Anantnag is having total infrastructural strength of 204 health institutions, which includes: 1 District Hospital, 6 Sub District Hospital SDH /CHC, 26 Primary Health Centre PHC / MMC, 33 New Type PHC, 1District TB Centres/Laper, 1 Mobile Medical AID Centre and 136 Sub Centres.
Contrary to this scenario, the infrastructural strength of district Baramulla is 286 health institutions, which includes: 1 District Hospital, 6 Sub District Hospital SDH / CHC, 31 Primary Health Centre PHC / MMC, 53 New Type PHC, 1 District TB Centres/Laper, 2 Urban Health Centre/ Evening Clinics, 1 Mobile Medical AID Centre and 191 Sub Centres.
Such an irrational distribution of manpower in the peripheries is hitting the healthcare system badly, while experts say that it is not only the irrational distribution of manpower, “but also the dearth of specialized manpower in the peripheries,” said a medico.
District Baramulla, as per data, is ahead of district Anantnang only in case of Medical Officers, which is 146 for Anantnag, and 182 for Baramulla. In case of Paramedical Staff, district Baramulla is once again lagging behind, which is 818 in Anantnag, and 646 in Baramulla.