Srinagar: Kashmir’s only maternity hospital Govt Lalla Ded hospital has been struggling with erring elevators from last few months and now the hospital administration has made it a point that the elevators are shut after 4 in the evening.

The elevators are situated at a spot that receives a rush of emergency patients, who are to be shifted to the wards above, but the non-functioning of the elevators after 4 is posing serious challenges to the hospital administration and to the attendants as well.

It was earlier reported by this newspaper that the elevators at the newly constructed building were malfunctioning and were also shut for days together after the elevators developed ‘technical snag’.

As per sources, JKPCC which had constructed the new building of LD hospital had given tender for establishing the lift to a local contractor, however, “the elevators are not of the category that is suitable for the hospitals,” the sources add.

There were instances where the lift got stuck in the middle while it was taking patients to the next floor, and created an emergency situation. In this scenario, the hospital administration has decided to keep it shut after 4, in order to avoid any ugly situation.

 “The elevators in the new hospital building are malfunctioning, and there are chances that the malfunctioning may someday cause an ugly situation,” said Medical Superintendent, LD hospital, Dr. Nazir Malik, adding “the administration has decided to keep them shut after 4 till the elevators start working efficiently, anything worse can happen, we are just trying to avoid any situation.”

The non-functioning of elevators is making the patients, who are admitted in the wards within the newly constructed building, or are reaching to the hospital for further treatment in case of any emergency to suffer.

“The patients face a challenging situation on arrival. The challenge is not only for the attendants but also for the staff that is on duty,” said an official.

So far the delay in getting the elevators upgraded seems to be the departmental tussle between Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) and Mechanical Engineering Department (MED).

As per the attendants, they literally have to take their patients from a different route, which is long and gives a tough time to them as far as the patient movement is considered.

Abdul Rahim, who is accompanying his daughter in the hospital, said that he had to literally carry her daughter on his shoulders to get a test done in the hospital.

“I happened to be here yesterday as my daughter was hospitalized. The doctors asked me to get a test done downstairs, it was around 5 in the evening, lifts were not working and I had to take her down on my shoulders,” said Abdul Rahim.

Guest