Owais Ayoub
Srinagar 12 June (KNB): Community Health Centre (CHC) Chattergam, falling in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, lacks the facilities which should have been availed by the residents of the area as per the hospital’s name, said locals.
The locals said that the CHC Chattergam is providing meagre facilities to the patients and is working equal to Primary Health Centre despite the hospital’s board displaying the name of CHC.
“There are only a few beds in the CHC and one doctor is for providing medical care to the patients in it. In CHC, there should be a presence of a couple of doctors with a number of beds for the patients,” said a local, ” this CHC is no more than a PHC as far as its facilities are concerned.”
According to NRHM, in CHC, there should be around 30 indoor beds with four specialists, i.e., Surgeon, Physician, Gynecologist and Pediatrician and other staff support. But the CHC Chattergam is yet to deliver such facilities to the locals.
Another local said that some time ago, the facility’s name was changed to Sub District Hospital, but later the board was taken down, and CHC was put up there. “Even this so-called CHC is not working as it should have. Barely any facility, if we consider it a CHC, is there. The authorities should take note of it and help us,” the local siad.
While talking to the Medical Officer of CHC Chattergam regarding the issue, he said that no handover-takeover of the hospital has yet been done, and it has an ample bed facility. “As per staff count, this is not CHC because of staff being kept in abeyance,” the official said, adding, “not a single post for a specialist is here yet.”
On asking him whether he had ever conveyed his senior officials about the problem, he said that he had taken up the matter with them, but nothing happened till now.
Regarding the matter, Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education, after being apprised about the issue by KNB, stated his intention of looking into the matter. (KNB)