by Tahir Bhat
SRINAGAR: With most hospitals, mainly government run, unable to maintain hygienic standards and take proper infection control measures, people visiting JVC Hospital Bemina here, alleged they are facing health problems due to unhygienic conditions at the hospital.
Scores of attendants who talked to Kashmir life said that there is need for quick intervention from the higher authorities to change the situation to prevent the people visiting hospital from acquiring hospital borne infections.
“Such situation can cause a serious infection to the patients with open wounds. Most of the toilets at the hospital remain unclean causing inconvenience to the patients and their attendants,” said one the attendant who had come here for the treatment.
The patients alleged that apart from being dirty, the hospital administration doesn’t change the bed sheets on regular basis to prevent the patients from infection.
Though the hospital administration, time and again, claims that they always work hard to keep the toilets clean, but the ground reality is very different.
Mushtaq Ahmad who visited hospital ward No 6 to see his relative found that the toilet in the ward is “very dirty” and in “subhuman” condition.
“Due to the poor state of toilets, public have to urinate in the open,” said an annoyed patient, adding that the toilets are unhygienic and the stench emanating from them to spread to the wards and toilets are in such a bad shape in the wards that most of the people refuse to even use them.
The patients who were less infected get more infections from the hospital. An employee there said that they immunize ourselves to protect from the infection here. “We cannot help this as administration has to do this job of cleanliness,” he said.
Patients say that a nauseating smell pervades in and around bathrooms as the authorities take no measures to prevent the foul smell. “Though we don’t complain about the treatment, but going to the washrooms in this hospital is like visiting a hell on earth. They stink to high heaven and those visiting these are prone to infections,” an attendant told Kashmir Life who was accompanying his father for treatment, said.
He said that situation is worse in the flush toilets which remain always unclean. It is terrible to be here. One can contract dangerous diseases on visiting here for the treatment,” he said and added each time he visits the toilet he vomits because of the heavy stench emanating from human faeces.
“This is one of the biggest hospitals of central Kashmir. How can they play with the health and hygiene of the Patients as well as attendants,” an agitated woman, attending her brother said.
When contacted Medical Superintendent Dr Shafa Deva, claims that they were doing their best and making more efforts to make the hospital cleaner. She deny all the allegations of the patients and said will look into the matter.
