Srinagar: Hundreds of terminally ill patients coming to SKIMS Soura amid Covid-19 pandemic have been facing hardships because the registration counters for OPD and investigations stay open for 2 hours only.
The hospital has witnessed uproar by patients and their attendants several times this week due to non-receipt of OPD tickets and investigation forms. Many patients have had to return without treatment.
According to patients, they appealed to the administration to increase the working hours so that patients who need day-care and are scheduled to undergo investigations do not suffer.
“The administration turned a deaf ear to our repeated pleas,” said a patient suffering from kidney failure. “I had to return twice without consultation or investigation.”
Employees refuse to issue registration cards or take payments from patients even if people stay in the queue for hours, the patient said.
Sabzar Ahmad, a resident of Shopian, told Kashmir Reader that employees and officials humiliated him after he requested them to issue registration card and investigation slip after 12 noon.
“I was in the queue at 11am on Thursday to deposit the fee for investigations of my father. Even after staying in the queue for more than an hour I couldn’t get the necessary document for the tests. I requested the employees and the person in charge at the control room to receive my fees but they refused outright and misbehaved with me,” he said.
Now, he said, he will have to visit the hospital again next week with his father, who is suffering from leukaemia.
“It’s a cumbersome journey in the lockdown to arrange for a vehicle and travel a long distance,” he said.
Medical Superintendent of SKIMS, Dr Farooq A Jan, said that the hospital administration had limited the OPD registration due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he said, it has been decided to increase the working hours of the OPD and the diagnostic fees counters following demand and increasing rush of patients.
“Now OPD registration will be done for three hours and people can deposit fees for investigations up to 3pm,” he said.