What could apparently be the reflection of the sorry state of affairs was the incident in which a medico, who was attending patients in SMHS here, referred a person having cardiac complicacy to the psychiatric department.While the doctors in the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital were on strike, the internee doctor who was taking care of the patients on Monday referred cardiology patient to psychiatrist doctor, putting question mark on the health sector of the state.Resident and Post Graduate (PG) doctors seeking security cover are on strike from past three days after a medico was beaten up by irate attendants over death of a patient last week.With the alleged negligence and non-seriousness of the doctors towards patients, SMHS hospital has come under severe criticism with the patients alleging it to be a reason of immense hardships.Waheed Ahmad Sofi, an attendant of the patient, Razia, a cardiology patient, said that they went with an emergency case to the SMHS hospital in the wee hours on Monday where doctors refused to treat her mother. “I went from pillar to post to seek doctor’s attention towards her mother who was unconscious but my plea felt in deaf ears,” he said.
“An interne doctor who was alone in the room taking care of the patients referred my mother (cardiology patient) to psychiatrist,” he said, adding that what else could be the sluggishness of the administration that an interne who is still taking classes are dealing with the critical patients.The OPD ticket under number 826269 available with the KNS reveals that the doctor has advised the patient to consult psychiatrist. “My mother is heart patient and what was the need to consult a psychiatrist,” he lamented.He said that due to the scuffle between doctors and state administration, the patients have been left on God’s mercy.Sofi further said that the authorities should look into the matter at earliest so that the doctors would be dealt with strictly.Medical Superintendent SMHS, Nazir Ahmad Chowdhary, told KNS that the allegations about the doctors are baseless. “Not internees but the senior doctors are also treating patients. I am currently looking the emergency room via CCTV and the doctors are present in the room,” he said. (KNS)