Private practice during duty hours hits patient care in DH Bandipora

Private practice during duty hours hits patient care in DH Bandipora

Suhail Rather

Bandipora, 16 Dec(PTK): Hundreds of desperate patients of District Hospital Bandipora are forced to wait for hours together as several doctors posted in the hospital prefer private practice over their official duty, patients complained on Friday.

Patients and their attendants said that few doctors posted in the hospital didn’t turn up till 11:30 am even as the reporting time is 10:00 am. They said that the doctors in question run their private clinics at different places in Bandipora and remain busy there while several other doctors travel from other districts and reach the hospital very late thus keeping the patients waiting in long queues.

Efforts to contact Medical Superintendent Dr Sheikh Mushtaq proved futile as he didn’t respond to repeated calls from this reporter.

Meanwhile, patients and attendants appealed to the Deputy Commissioner Bandipora and Commissioner Secretary Health and Medical Education to take strong note of the issue and initiate action against the erring doctors, so as to send a message in order to ensure that punctuality is adhered to by the doctors who have become habitual of coming late to attend their official duties at the expense of poor patients.

Notably Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) has raised concern time and again over private practice by government doctors in Jammu and Kashmir and has stated that it is taking a heavy toll on patient care.

Seeking ban on private practice of government doctors, DAK President Dr Nisar ul Hassan had then said the greatest casualty of private practice is patient care. “Doctors spend most of their time in private clinics and are not available for patients in government hospitals. Their attention and time is directed towards their private clinics,” he said.

The DAK President said patients in government hospitals are left to the mercy of trainees who lack expertise to handle complicated cases and some patients even die of misdiagnosis or delayed intervention due to non-availability of senior doctors who most of the time are in their private clinics.:-PTK.