Last Updated on May 18, 2021 at 2:43 pm
Jammu and Kashmir registered 73 deaths caused by COVID which is highest in a single day and noted 3344 fresh cases. Surrounding this grim news are several reports mentioning casual approach by senior doctors of Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu and Associated Hospitals in treatment of COVID victims.
Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner of Health and Medical Education Department wrote a letter to the GMC Principal to ensure that senior doctors attend patients more frequently. Sources say that this letter was motivated by reports attributing higher covid related deaths to negligence of patients by doctors.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has recently directed senior doctors to take frontline in battle against coronavirus. He had also called for close monitoring of COVID patients by the senior doctors some time back.
Dulloo mentioned in his letter that mortality rate in COVID positive patients has increased and we must reduce it by taking corrective measures. He asked medical institutions to direct senior faculty members to visit patients frequently so that they are properly looked after. It will help in reducing the mortality rate and total number of deaths.
Jammu is registering almost three times higher death rate than Kashmir. Many say that poor patient care is one of the contributing factors towards this high mortality rate.
There are allegations that many senior doctors are not even visiting the hospitals at all except when there are VIP visits and reviews. Some health experts have also blamed people for visiting hospital only when things are in critical condition. One such expert said that many patients are reporting to hospitals in advanced stage when their lungs are seriously damaged.
However, GMC Jammu Principal Dr Shashi Sudhan Sharma refused to accept reports which mentioned that senior doctors are ignoring patients. She said that all of their faculty members are doing everything possible in their capacity to save patients.
She said that they are running short of staff. They have only nine members working while 29 posts are sanctioned in total by Medicines Department. Four new faculty members have been recruited but only one of them has joined.
Jammu district registered 24 covid deaths out of total 54 Corona casualties in the Jammu region. Rajouri and Poonch districts witnessed 10 and 6 fatalities respectively. Five people died in Udhampur, three in Kathua and two each in Reasi, Ramban and Samba districts due to covid.
