The government on Thursday directed that the patients from districts will be admitted to Category-I health institutions in Srinagar only on proper referral by the District Health authorities.
A statement said the patients from districts will be accepted and admitted to the Category-I healthcare institutions in the summer capital Srinagar, Shere-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, SMHS Hospital, Chest Diseases Hospital and SKIMS Medical College & Hospital Bemina, only when they are properly referred by the district health authorities in consultation with the Director Health Services Kashmir or his authorised representative.
The government has asked the Director Health Services, Kashmir, to ensure implementation of the new arrangement in order to reduce the case load from districts across Kashmir to the Srinagar’s tertiary care institutions.
The arrangement has been put in place so that only the patients requiring critical care were admitted to the tertiary care hospital in the city, the communique added.
The statement further asked the authorities concerned in the health department to adhere to the instructions strictly as the patients from other districts were reporting directly to Category-I tertiary care institutions in Srinagar, without any referral.
Meanwhile, an official the decision was taken to avoid unnecessary rush from the districts to the hospital in Srinagar. “There have been repeated complaints that patients which could well be managed at the district levels are either referred to Srinagar hospitals or they without any referral directly land in the city hospital,” said the official. The official said the new arrangement would put an end to this practice.