Srinagar: At SKIMS Soura, the shortage of supplies including those required for emergencies is putting patients and their attendants to distress.
Many complainants said that the scenario was such that they were being directed to purchase even the basic disposables like syringes from the market.
In the recent past, many people have raised their grievances of having to run to the market to purchase disposables like syringes, drip sets and surgical gloves when their family members are taken to SKIMS Soura with an emergency.
One such complainant who identified himself as Asif Ali from Srinagar said his personal experience was that for the past four months the hospital was suffering from shortage of essential disposable and consumable items, much to the hassle of patients and burning a hole in their pockets.
“It is high time the J&K government intervenes in the matter,” he appealed.
Another attendant, BasitZargar took to Twitter on Wednesday to bring to notice the shortage of supplies.
“I took my ailing mother to SKIMS today and was shocked to learn that the emergency ward has been without essentials like gloves, surgical tape and even antibiotics for several weeks. Doctors are helpless and patients have to buy these things from the market as I did,” he wrote.
Earlier this year, the J&K government, after the completion of the term of Dr A G Ahangar as Director SKIMS, ordered that he continue in the post, taking the charge of heading purchases and appointments from him.
This annulled the purchases committee of the institute creating a supplies gap, an official of the institute said.
The purchases sub-committee was reconstituted later in July 2021.
The SKIMS administration acknowledged that the hospital was having irregular supply of these essential items and there was a shortage in stocks.
Medical Superintendent SKIMS, DrFarooq Jan said that the matter was related to the delay in reconstitution of the purchase committee.
He said that the hospital was addressing the issue and much of the supplies had been procured.
“We have placed orders for drip sets but the supplier is delivering the stock in quantity of some thousands which is lower than our consumption,” he said.
Dr Jan said that the regular and adequate supply was expected in a “day or two”.
He said that the hospital had also sought assistance from J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL), the J&K government’s purchasing department for hospital supplies.
“We have also transferred Rs 40 lakh to JKMSCL but even from them, the supplies are slow and lesser than expected,” Dr Jan said.
He said that the hospital had also given orders for market survey for purchase of syringes.
Managing Director JKMSCL, Yashpal Sharma said SKIMS Soura was empowered to make its own purchases and the corporation he headed was only “helping deal with shortages”.
However, he said that the syringe shortage could not be resolved soon as there was a country-wide short supply of these necessary hospital items.
“We are only aiding in tiding over the crisis. They have to ensure their own supplies,” Sharma said.