Srinagar: Around 5,000 major surgeries were performed in Srinagar hospitals till date from August 5, the day when Parliament passed a resolution supporting the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“Around 5,000 major surgeries were performed in Srinagar hospitals from August 5 till date,” officials said.
Besides, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura and SKIMS Medical College and Hospital in Bemina, surgeries were performed in all associated hospitals of the Government Medical College of Srinagar.
In the GMC Srinagar associated hospitals, the number of surgical procedures includes over 3,000 — including around 700 in the main trauma of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital, over 800 in the main orthopaedic bone and joints or B and J hospital and around 400 in the super-speciality hospital.
In the LD Hospital which is Kashmir’s main maternity hospital, around 1,200 surgeries have been performed during this period.
Besides surgeries, the general healthcare services provided to patients in these hospitals during this period has been business as usual with around 95,000 patients visiting OPDs and over 10 thousands patients being admitted for treatment in their IPDs.
“Routine laboratory investigations and radiological procedures like MRI and CT Scan performed in these hospitals during the period add up to over one lakh. These include among others around 5,500 X-Rays, over 6,000 USGs, around 2,000 ECGs, around 2,000 CT Scans, 220 MRIs and some 750 super-specialty procedures,” Jammu and Kashmir Directorate of Information said in a statement on Friday.
General healthcare services like patients seen in outpatient departments and those admitted to inpatient departments of these hospitals include totals of over 60,000 OPDs and over 5000 IPDs. These include over 35,000 OPDs and around 3700 IPDs in SKIMS and over 26,000 OPDs and around 1,500 IPDS in SKIMS MCH.
These figures exclude the number of patients seen in emergencies of these hospitals — which is over 28,000 patients. Different medical investigations of patients conducted in SKIMS MCH alone add up to around 70,000.
Primary healthcare across Kashmir has also been busy as usual with things picking up speed after Eid. In Srinagar alone, some 30 thousand patients were seen in OPDs and around 1100 admitted in IPDs of different centres. 10 major surgeries and some 800 different kinds of medical tests were also performed therein.
“These figures are a clear indication that healthcare services in Kashmir have been delivering as usual. While the period has seen about 20 percent decrease in services it is not unusual in times of major festivals or events like it was in this month with Eid and the Independence celebrations both falling in it,” it read.
Medicine Stock:
In regard to the status of stocks of medicines in hospitals in Kashmir, the administration said that supplies are made in two equal halves for two six-month periods per annum. The first half is still sufficient to last until the end of September. The second half of the order that will last until March 2020 will be received and distributed as usual before October.
Funds:
In Srinagar, the administration has provided funds to several hospitals for procuring additional medicines. The latter is to cover requirements that patients usually get from retail markets.
Staff Attendance:
“It should also be noted that staff attendance in all these healthcare institutions is being strictly monitored and has been around 95 percent throughout this period. Reports suggesting shortage of medicines or healthcare crisis in Kashmir are therefore clearly baseless,” the statement said.