Left alone: Abandoned patients left to survive in hospitals
Srinagar: The absence of rehabilitation homes in the state, particularly the Kashmir Valley is creating issues for patients who have been abandoned and have been left to survive in various hospitals.
The case in point can be the Institute of Neurosciences, Badamwari where a number of patients,who were initially admitted for the treatment, have been abandoned for several years now.
As of now, there are at least 6 persons belonging to several states who were admitted to the hospital for treatment and even after getting the required treatment, they are still lying in the hospital with nobody to own them. Worse enough the government is staring at the issue helplessly.
While taking to ‘Kashmir Vision’ Sajad Ahmad, a social worker at the Institute of Neurosciences, Badamwari said that such patients have been treated and are good to go home, but there is no one to take care of them, they are still lying at the hospital.
“All such patients have been treated at the hospital for years now, and they are fit to go home, in some cases we don’t know where they are from, and in some cases the families are not coming forward to own them, thus they are lying here,” he said.
The hospital administration has been taking care of such patients, in some cases, for years now. One such case was that of Javaid Ahmad Kumar’s who was treated but the family was not ready to take him home. The administration took care of him for many years and finally he was reunited with his family two months ago.
Currently, there are three patients from outside the state, and more than 20 more such patients who are local, but in almost all the cases the families have not come forward to own them, leaving them at the mercy of the hospital administration.
As per experts, there has been a failure on part of the government as well, as it has not come up with any rehabilitation homes in valley for such patients.
What is interesting is that the government does not know that such patients do exist in the valley, where they have been abandoned by their families and are in need of a helping hand from the government.
While talking to ‘Kashmir Vision,’ Secretary to the government, Social Welfare Department, Sajad Ahmad Khan said that the government is not aware of such cases. “We are not aware of such cases, and will have to look into the matter to see what can be done,” Khan said.
“There are many centres such as Bal Ashrams, Nari Niketans, Blind Homes and Social Welfare Centres functioning under Social Welfare Department,” he added.
Notably, as per the official website of the department not a single institution among the above mentioned is functional in the valley, raising questions over the seriousness of the department while handling such a ‘sensitive’ issue.
The Secretary was clueless when this reporter asked him what the government was actually doing in this matter and said that he will get back after getting the required details, “I will get back to you later on this matter,” he said.
KV Correspondent
