Srinagar, June 6: The failure of the authorities to start the Emergency Operation Theatre (EOT) in the Valley’s sole trauma and orthopedic hospital, Bone and Joint Barzulla, is causing tremendous inconvenience to the patients who have to wait for several days to get their major and minor surgeries done.
Sources in the hospital told Greater Kashmir that the construction on the EOT began seven years ago and the project is still incomplete. “Even a separate elevator has been installed to carry the patients to the theatre,” sources said. They however added that the administration had yet to procure the latest equipments and other important items used for running the theatre.
Sources further said that few years ago the then Medical Superintendent, Dr. Muneer Masoodi, had almost made the EOT functional, but his exit from the hospital halted the process.
They said that after functioning of the EOT properly, the hospital would be able to provide round the clock surgery facilities to the patients in emergency. “This time these patients have to wait for several days and even weeks to get the procedure done in the health institute,” sources said adding that these patients face huge mental agony during their admission and some of them are forced to get operated at privately run nursing homes by spending huge amounts of money.
“People who have to undergo small procedures are made to wait till the doctors complete the surgeries in the Operation Theatre, which is currently functioning as the emergency theatre,” sources said.
“It is nowhere in the world including underdeveloped countries that patients with small fractures like that of Olecranon, Patella and many other such ailments are made to wait for their turn to get operated in routine theatre,” a doctor told Greater Kashmir on the condition of anonymity adding that the health institutes in these countries deal with such type of patients in emergency theatre.
Another doctor said that the patients with fractured neck of femur should be operated within 72 hours. “However, in Bone and Joint Hospital, such type of patients are made to wait for a week or more as the operation theatre remains busy with cold surgeries,” the medico said adding that due to the delay in surgeries of these patients, the result of the procedure is very poor.
“Elder patients with peritrochanteric fractures are also made to wait for more than two weeks and doctors despite knowing that the mortality of patients in the first year increases by 30 per cent with each passing day, are not able to do anything,” the medicos added, adding the hospital was putting the lives of patients at risk by delaying their surgeries.
The medicos said that during their stay in the hospital, these patients and their attendants face lot of problems, particularly on the monetary aspect. “The attendants of patients from remote areas of Kashmir have to hire a room in the city to stay for which they have to shelve out lot of money, which becomes an additional burden on the impoverished class,” the official sources added.
“Ask any orthopedician as to when you will like to operate the patient with a fractured neck of femur or any other fracture for that matter? The answer will always be as immediately as possible,” the medicos said adding the solution is to operate fractures in emergency theatre round the clock by keeping necessary staff and equipment available.
The medicos blame the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities for the delay in operationalising of the EOT. “With hospital administration showing an indifferent attitude towards the issue, the patients are suffering everyday and have been left in lurch,” sources added.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 7 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST