Kupwara, June 22: The residents of Qaziabad Kralgund in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district are facing hardships as the Community Health Centre Kralgund lacks basic amenities.
The residents said that maternity care had been hit badly due to non-availability of a gynecologist round the clock at CHC Kralgund.
They said that only one gynecologist had been deputed here who remains available on Monday only and on the rest of the days, pregnant women are forced to visit District Hospital Baramulla or Handwara for treatment.
“I am unable to figure out that if the status of our hospital is equal to that of Sub District Hospital then why authorities don’t keep available services of a gynecologist round the clock at our hospital,” Javid Ahmad Mir, a local told Greater Kashmir.
“CHC Kralgund caters to over 50 villages but lack of basic amenities has always been a concern for over 30,000 people. Due to lack of facilities here, people are forced to go to other hospitals,” he said.
The residents said that due to non-availability of USG and other diagnostic facilities people were suffering.
They said that although USG machine stands available in hospital, due to non-availability of a technician, people are unable to avail this facility.
The residents said that the hospital possess decades-old manual X-ray and diagnostic machines which do not come up with exact results and people are compelled to go for repetition of tests.
They said that due to lack of adequate accommodation, hospital casualty was being run at the doctor’s residential quarters.
They said that a serious patient who needs trolley support cannot be taken there because it does not contain specific trolley path and instead patients are being taken to casualty on shoulders, they said.
The residents said that for a simple surgery, patients had to move to tertiary hospitals due to non-availability of a surgeon at CHC Kralgund.
Locals said that they had several times brought these grievances to the notice of the concerned officials but nothing concrete had been done in this regard so far.
They sought immediate intervention of LG Manoj Sinha in this regard so that their genuine grievances were redressed.
The locals appealed the LG’s administration to upgrade the existing facilities for better healthcare at CHC Kralgund.
Block Medical Officer (BMO) Langate Dr Gowhar told Greater Kashmir that soon a digital X-ray plant would being installed at CHC Kralgund and SDH Langate.
He said that a gynecologist performs duty on Monday there and on the rest of the days other medical officers were available and render maternity care efficiently.