Attendants of COVID positive patients Wednesday protested against the authorities of COVID hospital located at Sub District Hospital Kupwara for the lack of basic facilities. The protestors assembled in the hospital premises and raised slogans against the authorities. They alleged that the staff deputed does not do justice to their job and remains inaccessible most of the time leaving the patients to suffer. “Due to non-availability of medicines here we are forced to procure medicines from the open market” said an attendant. “One can imagine that the attendants are forced to buy NSRL glucose syringes masks from the open market” said a protestor. The protesting attendants said that the hospital had only one wheel chair for 130 beds which takes a toll on patients as the elderly patients have to wait long to the wheel chair. The attendants said that they had brought these issues to the notice of hospital administration numerous times in past few days but to no avail. Reports of protest were also received from Community Health Centre (CHC) Kralpora where people complained of lack of basic amenities and accused negligence of duties by the staff deputed there. Incharge Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Kupwara Dr Abdul Gani while refuting the claims said that the attendants who protested were asked by the on-duty doctors to shift their patient to the tertiary hospital as his oxygen saturation level had gone down below 60. “One of the attendant got furious with it and misbehaved with the on-duty doctors and went on to stage a protest against the hospital authorities. He came up with baseless allegations to malign the image of the doctors” he said. About the non-availability of medicines Dr Gani said that all the required medicines were available for COVID patients. However at times he said some medicines other than those required for COVID treatment needed to be procured from the open market which was as normal as in other hospitals. Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Imam Din has ordered an inquiry into the incident. An official communiqué late in the evening in this regard said that consequent upon the videos being circulated on social media on account of protest regarding non-availability of doctors and medicines for treatment including lax attitude by the doctors and paramedic staff towards patient care at SDH Kupwara and CHC Kralpora a three-member team including SDM Lolab Tehsildar Kupwara and Dr Sheikh Mohammad Iqbal Consultant Physician SDH Kupwara would ascertain the facts of allegations levelled by the protestors. It reads that the team would also examine the duty roster of doctors and paramedical staff as per the guidelines of health authorities.

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