Budgam distt hospital sans sonologist

KT NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, Apr 24: District hospital Budgam has often been in news for the wrong reasons.

In the absence of a specialist sonologist, the hospital’s ultrasonography section is running at the mercy of a few assistant surgeons, who are not certified to conduct sonography.

A delegation from Budgam told the Kashmir Times that their repeated pleas to the authorities have fallen on deaf ears.

“There are two-three doctors who conduct ultrasonography, but none of them is specialist in sonology,” the delegation said. “We are compelled to take our patients to private clinics for conducting untrasound diagnosis.”

The delegation alleged that the concerned authorities are not taken the hospital seriously.
“We had brought the matter to the notice of health minister, but he did not bother to pay heed to us,” the delegation said. “Even the district administration has left it at the mercy of God.”

They said that nine out of ten patients, who receive ultrasound, are diagnosed as having cysts.

“When one of such patients was operated for diagnosed hydatid cyst, the doctors operating on him found that he had no cyst,” they said.

The delegation added that the graveness of the situation can be gauged from the fact that a stone medicine worth Rs 30000 was prescribed by doctors to patients in a single week.

When contacted, medical superintendent of district hospital Budgam, Dr Nazir Ahmad Qanoongo, refuted the allegations.

“These are baseless allegations. Our hospital has already three sonologists, who are well qualified,” he told Kashmir Times.