WE THE PEOPLE
Department of General Medicine of SKIMS quite overcrowded, under-staffed and short of essential drugs
Hence people seek CM’s intervention, demand strengthening and restructuring of DGM to meet growing demand of patients
By: R. Makhdoomi
Srinagar: The Department of General Medicine (DGM) also popularly known as department of Internal Medicine plays a pivotal role in rendering medical services, both to outpatient and indoor patients. The department runs Out Patient Department (OPD) on all week days and emergency services reportedly round the clock. The department runs pulmonary medicine, rheumatology, infectious diseases and clinical hematology services in particular, besides, being the initial contact point for all the patients for the specialties. The department runs pulmonary medicine services including bronchoscopy services (diagnostic & therapeutic) for all sister institutions of the State. LASER treatment of tumor is reportedly being performed routinely. The department also runs teaching at SKIMS Medical College for MBBS students and also runs post graduate and ancillary courses like Medical Lab Technology. The department is also reportedly running 24x7 services for accidents and emergency cases. These characteristics and functions have virtually made "Department of General Medicine" back bone of Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical sciences (SKIMS).
To know more about the department, this correspondent of "Mirror of Kashmir" arrived at about 10.10 am the other day and found long queues of people waiting to collect their tickets. The treatment points of” General Medicine Department" located in ground floor of OPD were quite overcrowded with patients and their attendants. The Department presents a mixed picture with lot of grey areas and few positives. Mohammad Ashraf, a patient attendant said, "Very few personnel have been deployed for providing tickets, their number should be increased to meet the heavy flow of patients .The number of doctors treating the patients at the OPD of General Medicine department is also quite low and more doctors should be deployed here. Patients should be allowed one by one and on their own turn, which unfortunately is not the case, as some patients have to wait for hours together, while some have to wait only for a few moments which clearly indicates that there is mismanagement at ground level”.
Tariq Ahmad Payal, a patient said, “The most unfortunate reality about our premier health institution -Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical sciences- is that there is lot of Mismanagement here, as no coordination exists between the different departments here. Sometimes I am referred to Uricology Department and sometimes to "General Medicine Department for treatment. Lot of favoritism is another factor prevalent in SKIMS, this is what I am observing currently in general medicine department that some selected patients are allowed to have their checkup first, while people like me who have no approach are made to wait for long intervals of time. This type of favoritism should be immediately curbed, if we are really honest in our efforts to make SKIMS a world class institution.” Mudasir Jalal, a patient attendant said, “our patient required some emergency tests and treatment, but we were given a distant date for carrying out the same by the department of general medicine, if we would have waited for such a long time that would have proven dangerous for the health of our patient, as a result we finally decided to have these tests done through private clinics which involved lot of money too unbearable for us. As I am back with my patient to this department, I am annoyed to see that those who have some kind of influence are allowed to have their checkup first.”
On the other side of the Spectrum, there were some patients and their attendants, who had some positives to narrate about the General Medicine Department Gulzar Ahmad, a patient said, “I am very much pleased by the tender attitude of doctors in this department. Doctors minutely analyze the problem and provide necessary instructions. But, I believe that some proportion of medicine should be provided free to patients, as this can help the poor masses who otherwise have to pay handsome amount of money for purchasing the required medicine from the druggists.” Abdul Qayoom, a patient attendant said, “I have come to Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) nearly after a gap of decade, as I have to get my patient’s checkup done through general medicine department and with conviction I am able to say that there has been a marked improvement not only in this department.”
Hence people seek CM’s intervention, demand strengthening and restructuring of DGM to meet growing demand of patients. Whether this is done remains to be seen!
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