With two maternity centres in Srinagar turned into COVID19 Hospitals and lack of round-the clock maternity services in peripheries, increased patient rush at Lal Ded Hospital is making social distancing difficult.
Amidst lockdown and OPD services of all the hospitalsclosing down, Lal Ded Hospital, Kashmir’s only tertiary care maternityhospital, is abuzz with patients and their attendants.
Medical superintendent Dr Shabir Siddiqui said that over 100admissions are made everyday at the hospital. This, he said, is more than whatthe administration had expected when they closed down OPDs. “We have stoppedall routine surgeries and we had expected to bring down our load ofadmissions,” he said.
However, that was not to be as two main maternity centres inSrinagar, JLNM Hospital and SKIMS Medical College Hospital were turned intoCOVD19 Hospitals, making these facilities inaccessible for the hundreds ofwomen who had registered there for prenatal care, delivery and antenatal care.
Moreover, Prof Farhat Jabeen, head department of gynaecologyand obstetrics at Government Medical College Srinagar said, the hospitalcontinues to get patients from peripheries, referrals that she termed”unjustified”.
“A normal delivery can be catered to at a district hospital.Why that patient should be sent to us if there is no complication?” she asked.
She said there was a dire need to stop unnecessary referralsfrom peripheral hospitals amidst COVID19 epidemic. Prof Jabeen said 70deliveries take place at the hospital on an average every day, a number shewishes could go down, given there are round-the clock secondary care hospitals.”We are putting lives at risk. We need to decongest as much as possible and forthat we need to stop referring everyone to LD Hospital,” she said.
Dr Shabir Siddiqui said many measures had been put in placeto decongest the hospital. However, a doctor working at the facility said therush of attendants and the load of patients made social distancing afar-fetched expectation. “Our labour rooms are so full even amidst COVID19 riskthat sometimes, even now, women are sharing beds. This needs immediateattention,” she said.
Prof Jabeen appealed that people to stop visiting hospitalsfor routine check-ups. In a message to expecting mothers, she said, “By comingto hospital, you might be at risk. If you have no complication and are early inpregnancy, a visit may not be immediately required.”
However, since there is no helpline for expecting mothers,many of the hospital visits are made by women for routine check-ups, a doctorsaid. “Sometimes, there is just a query. Even for that, a patient comes tohospital,” the doctor said.
Dr Siddiqui said arrangements were being made to start ahelpline in the hospital. “It would start soon,” he informed.