Jammu, 26 September (H.S.): Health and Medical Education Minister Sakeena Itoo today told the Legislative Assembly that the J&K Government is working on a roadmap to expand ventilator capacity in hospitals amid a shortage of life-support machines and a rise in referrals of critically ill patients to tertiary-care hospitals.

Replying to a supplementary question by MLA Salman Ali Sagar, Itoo acknowledged that the available ventilators were insufficient to meet demand, particularly as major hospitals in Srinagar receive critically ill patients referred from peripheral healthcare institutions.

Ventilators are currently in short supply. What is available is not enough because there are more referrals of critical patients, Itoo said.

She said the Government was ensuring adequate availability of doctors in Srinagar hospitals to handle the additional patient load generated by referrals from peripheral areas.

Sagar had raised concerns over staff shortages, emergency-bed availability and ventilator capacity at major hospitals, including SMHS and SKIMS, and urged the Government to strengthen emergency services.

Responding to the concerns, Itoo said doctors were doing their best to manage critically ill patients despite pressure on available resources.

However, Itoo said expanding ventilator capacity would require additional manpower, particularly doctors and ICU staff, to operate the machines.

Itoo said that the Health Department was working on a roadmap to expand ventilator availability and strengthen critical-care capacity.

In a written reply to Sagar's starred question on the shortage of doctors, the Health and Medical Education Department acknowledged shortages of medical and paramedical staff in certain healthcare institutions across J&K, with the extent varying according to sanctioned strength, vacancies, functional requirements and service-delivery needs.

The department said it was continuously monitoring manpower and rationally deploying available staff among healthcare institutions based on patient load, institutional requirements, specialised services and other public-health needs.

In Srinagar, the Government said healthcare services were functioning smoothly and that staff shortages, wherever they existed, were being supplemented through deployment or engagement under the National Health Mission, wherever permissible. It said there was consequently no adverse impact on healthcare delivery in the district.

At SKIMS, the Government said services were also functioning smoothly, with available manpower being utilised optimally. Vacancies were being addressed through recruitment and other permissible arrangements to ensure continuity of patient care.

The Government said vacant medical and paramedical posts would be filled on priority, subject to the availability of selection panels or recommendations from competent recruiting agencies.

Appointments would be made against duly sanctioned posts in accordance with prescribed rules and procedures, it said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar