This is simply the height of the medical negligence that a patient, woman by gender, who was supposed to undergo an ear surgery reportedly, had her uterus removed instead, in a private hospital situated in Sopore town.
As the incident came to light after the relatives protested against the guilty, the Health Department has formed a team to investigate the matter while the operation theater of the alleged healthcare facility has also been sealed to pursue the probe. Such a delinquency on the part of people associated with the medical profession is simply unacceptable and calls for a befitting legal action besides debarring the people responsible from continuing their profession in the healthcare sector.
This particular case and many others of similar kind form the reason behind the residents of the UT shifting the patients outside the region for even insignificant ailments because in J&K, the cases of medical negligence happen more often with people facing unnecessary complications forcing them to seek treatment outside the UT for the sake of getting adequate healthcare services.
Of course, such an unprofessional attitude of medical professionals in the region becomes the main cause behind patients making a beeline to visit hospitals situated in the nearby states and UTs for specialized treatment as anything can take place in the hospitals of J&K.
It is a common scenario that those requiring specialized care, such as orthopaedic surgeries, cardiac treatments, and cancer therapies take no time in deciding to visit institutions like PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS Delhi, and corporate hospitals such as Apollo, Fortis, Sri Ganga Ram, Max Super Speciality, and Medanta The Medicity at various locations outside J&K. The serious cases of medical negligence like the one reported from Sopore form the reasons behind people taking away patients from the healthcare facilities in J&K.
The issue is serious and needs to be addressed on priority because if Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh can create world class infrastructure in healthcare why J&K is lagging? The incumbent helmsman owes a lot to the people because creating a standard healthcare edifice is its responsibility as no alibi is justified for doing not enough to create a reliable healthcare infrastructure in J&K.
It is necessary that those behind the gaffe in the Sopore hospital should be taken to task by following the rule of law but it is equally important to develop a consistent healthcare sector in the UT on which the people can rely without facing any danger of loss or lives or finances, which unfortunately is present state of affair here.
