Srinagar, Feb 07: Expecting mothers bear the brunt as maternity care at Government Medical College (GMC) Baramulla’s Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department, a lone tertiary maternity centre in north Kashmir, which is struggling with staff shortages and systemic lapses.
Despite being the only tertiary care centre in north Kashmir, the newly established medical college maternity department has faced government neglect hitting patients badly.
A doctor at the GMC said Gynaecology, a vital department has been affected due to the shortage of staff which has overburdened the existing doctors. “The department is severely understaffed. It has only one Senior Resident. Earlier, there were four Senior Residents and three of them completed their tenure and left, they have not been replaced despite the passing of two months due to which patients suffer,” he said.
Daily, the department performs 15 to 25 C-sections, but a shortage of doctors compromises patient care as junior doctors are asked to perform tasks. “In contrast to SKIMS Soura’s gynaecology department, which has 10 senior residents handling 15 C-section cases, we lack sufficient senior residents. This shortage has impacted both patient care and medical education,” he said.
The doctor said three to four pregnant women are forced to share a single bed in the labour room, making it stressful for both patients and doctors. “Some beds in the labour room are broken. There is a shortage of supply of important drugs for two months and patients bring these from private shops and many do not afford it,” he said.
Insiders revealed that the hospital recently received substandard gloves from a supplier, prompting the hospital to issue a show-cause notice against the supplier.
Notably, the GMC has constructed an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), both maternal and child, but it hasn’t been made functional as govt. has failed to recruit manpower for the same.
“The ICU is still locked. This is also a reason why patients including high-risk pregnancies from north Kashmir are referred to Srinagar hospitals for treatment. This facility must be made available as patients often need ICU post-surgery,” said officials.
They said that pregnant women who suffer excessive bleeding are referred as such cases are not attempted at the maternity centre putting them at high risk. “A fully equipped ICU) is need of the hour to handle life-threatening emergencies.”
“Both the 10-bed maternal and 10-bed child ICU are ready but we have no staff. We would have made it functional but we don’t have manpower. This is the inefficiency of the medical college and they are sleeping over the issue,” said an employee.
The doctor also flagged the issues of ambulances saying that 102 ambulances don’t come to the GMC and poor patients spent Rs 1500 when their patients are referred to Srinagar.
The officials said the medical college also faces budget issues under the National Health Mission (NHM) with officials saying they don’t get the recommended funding.
Dr Parvaiz Masoodi, Medical Superintendent, Associated Hospital Baramulla admitted the staff shortage and said they have conducted an examination for recruitment of Senior Residents and two Senior Residents would be appointed soon in the gynaecology department.
“There was a problem with gloves for one day but now we have resolved the issue and brought 1,000 high-quality gloves and there is no shortage,” he said.
Principal GMC Baramulla, Dr Majid Jehangir said the issue of the ICU would be resolved saying other medical colleges like Anantnag and Handwara also face similar issues. “The ICU has not been started yet. We need to have staff and ventilators. The government is working on it and we will resolve the issue of ICU in two months,” he said.
