Ailing health-sector; only 1 ventilator functional at SMGS hospital

Tahir Mushtaq


JAMMU, Dec 07: The only government-run specialised Gynaecology and Paediatrics hospital in the region - Shri Maharaja Ghulab Singh (SMGS) Hospital - has only one ventilator functional. 


Sources revealed that the hospital has only one ventilator as of now and all patients who are required to be put on artificial respiratory support system are shifted to already over-burdened Government Medical College hospital (GMC) Jammu. 


They said that about one year back administration had procured an additional ventilator for the new Paediatrics block, but it is also lying nonp-functional as there are no required doctors and para-medical staff. 
Absence of ventilators, the most important requirement of Pediatrics is causing much worry to the patients and their wards. The hospital draws an influx of nearly 1,200 patients in its OPD, besides 50-60 patients are admitted on daily basis in both wards. 


“Hospital is faced with shortage of manpower, equipment and infrastructure but we cannot do anything in this regard as decision has to be taken by the government to fill the vacancies to run equipments. We have to wait for the decisions of the administration” said a senior Doctor. 


Patients said that in the absence of life-saving equipments people are left with no choice but to shift their patients to private nursing homes, while it is the poor who suffer the most due to the government’s indecision in this regard. 


In case of emergency, patients are shifted to GMC. We are waiting for the recruitment process initiated by the Public Service Commission (PSC).


These equipments need atleast three nurses, a doctor for continuous monitoring and other staff 550-bed hospital was overburdened with the burgeoning number of patients. The hospital accommodates more than 700 indoor patients on regular basis - a number beyond its existing capacity. Officials said that it is not only the lack of ventilators but the shortage of the doctors and para-medical staff was also casting shadow on the other departments like ENT and related branches of medical science.