Srinagar, Aug 12 (KNO): Speaking volumes about the shoddy approach of the SKIMS administration in dealing with COVID-19 positive cases, the doctors and other paramedic staff, having contracted deadly virus complained that frontline warriors receive ‘derisory’ treatment at tertiary care hospital.
Sources at SKIMS Soura told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that COVID-19 affected faculty members including that of doctors and other paramedic staff receives worse treatment as the administration is yet indecisive to reserve separate spaces for them in the sanatorium.
A senior faculty member, who was tested positive for Corona-Virus recently, had to run from pillar to post to get him admitted at SKIMS wherein he had treated hundreds of affected patients since the outbreak of deadly pandemic.
Sources said the senior doctor, after being admitted at SKIMS, struggled for days together to arrange a bed for him in the infectious disease ward. They further said the administration other than tall claims do nothing for its own faculty not to talk of commoners.
Notwithstanding, repeated requests and representations, by the staff members to the Director concerned to reserve space for them in the hospital, no measures were taken by the administrations in this direction thus far.
If sources are to be believed, Director SKIMS, Dr A G Ahangar in an interview to a news channel had rejected as ‘baseless’ that any doctor or paramedic has contracted the virus while treating COVID-19 patients.
Dr Ahangar had also claimed to have ordered an internal inquiry to ascertain the circumstances as to how a senior doctor contracted the virus, however his contentions ripped apart the moment more and more faculty members turned positive at SKIMS.
Talking to KNO, Medical Superintendent SKIMS, Dr. Farooq Jan while refuting the reports that staff members receive poor treatment said the administration takes due care of COVID-19 affected doctors.
“There are only two doctors admitted in the hospital at present and both receive better treatment. We recommend home quarantine for mildly symptomatic patients and those having contracted virus are admitted at isolation wards, we never discriminate against anyone be it a doctor or a commoner,” Dr Jan added.
Sources said several doctors; paramedics which include nurses and technicians were tested positive for Corona-Virus at SKIMS in the recent past. Moreover reports of three HoDs’ also came positive for deadly pandemic.
“Being factually frontline warriors, faculty members at SKIMS are receiving extremely poor treatment. Most of them prefer to isolate themselves at home as there is no space left for them in the hospital. SKIMS administration seems to be least bothered to provide quality treatment to its own staff whose services to the masses in these testing times cannot be ignored at all,” sources said—(KNO)