Health Care is a fundamental right of each individual. Every person irrespective of his race, creed, colour, religion or community has a right to avail basic health Care . The initiative of primary health Care started by the government of India is one of the crucial and most important steps taken towards the achievement of ‘’Health For All Goal’’ through primary health centres services of health Care are being made available at the door steps. Now a days far flang areas are being covered in order to provide basic health care to all the individuals . The whole system runs smoothly when we have dedicated and hardworking doctors nurses and other paramedical staff who are working tirelessly 24 X 7 to deliver the care whatever the situations are, we see these people are struggling and fighting at the forefront without caring for their lives.
We are witnessing the disaster created by covid-19 since last 7 months in our country and in the whole world near about 634325 people lost their life and a huge number approximately near about 15538736 is still infected , these numbers might have changed during the time I am writing this piece. The doctors and nurses are the real heroes who are fighting at the fore front day and night in order to save the lives of others without caring for themselves. 104 doctors have lost their lives to COVID 19 in India only, the number is quite high at global level and as per the reports of International Council Of Nurses (ICN) more than 600 nurses lost their life to this deadly virus globally . One doctor Javed Ali who has been doing covid-19 duty for the last three months took his last breath on 22nd July at ICU of AIIMS he sacrificed his life for humanity. A large number of Doctors and Nurses got infected in Kashmir also and unfortunately some lost their lives . Doctors are treated next to God on this planet it is the services and research of these people that we have a eradicated deadly diseases from the universe. At present when there is emergency like situation in the whole world these doctors or doing their job day and night in the service of humanity nurses on the other side have not left any stone unturned during this pandemic . Nothing has always been a very important occupation for the world. Nursing has been about touching the lives and mending hearts , the world would not have been a planet of kindness if nurses were not there.
The medical field is an amazing profession which is respected by everyone. Every individual doctor nurse and other staff should be proud of his or her services to the nation and humanity at large but the sad part of story is that in our Kashmir it has become a common trend in our hospitals to attack the doctors, nurses and other associated staff. Some days back in Srinagar’s SMHS hospital some miscreants assaulted a female doctors and vandalised the hospital property and in a similar incident 3-4 days later a male staff nurse posted in ICU of the same hospital was attacked and beaten mercilessly leading to severe injuries. Following these continuous on-duty attacks the Doctors and Nurses staged a protest at GMC Srinagar which in turn effects the care of patients .We must condemn these assaults on Medicos and we need to take a serious note of these incidents as a responsible member of society . We are appealing the authorities to take stern action against the guilty and in future ensure the safety of our medical staff. We must understand that doctors and nurses are also human beings they are not aliens or someone with supernatural powers.
They also get tired and also have stress. Doctors and nurses in Kashmir are working at the front line in current extremely difficult and challenging circumstances and are doing Herculean job which is not humanly possible. These medical professionals are not just doing treatments but they offer their blood whenever the need arises. One doctor Prof Saleem Wani, head department of Urology and Kidney Transplant Unit at SKIMS, donated his blood for extraction of plasma for CPT. I offer my salute to all the doctors, nurses and other staff at GMC associated hospitals , SKIMS and other hospitals of the valley. Salute and respect to you all. Respect and hats off to other staff including paramedics ,ambulance drivers and domestic staff. In Kashmir where we have severe shortage of doctors and nurses and adequate infrastructure, it is difficult to manage the crisis situations. Against the sanctioned strength of 4000 nurses in the UT of J&K , only 700-800 nurses are working in the Kashmir hospitals and the number is not different with respect to the doctors.
The shortage of staff has been a long pending issue since years in Kashmir which leads to the increased burden on the working staff. On talking to the one of the nurses working in GMC associated hospital, she told that we are supposed to perform 24 hour continuous shifts and if on next day relieving staff is not available we have to continue for next 24 hours. Same is the case with doctors , who are over burdened with huge patient rush in the hospitals. Doctors and Nurses were doing continue duty shifts due to the shortage of PPE during the initial period of COVID 19 spread, so that only one PPE kit gets used for the whole shift.
The huge rush of attendants in hospitals is also a thing we need to worry about. These incidents of violence are the result of this rush. Authorities must take serious note of this matter and must work to decrease this rush in hospitals. Proper schedule of visiting hours must be framed so that doctors and nurses may not get interrupted during their working hours.
These lines for Doctors, Nurses and whole Medical Fraternity:-
‘’If I were to select a group of people with the responsibility to make this world a better place, I’d pick the Doctors and Nurses like you anytime. Your job is the most heroic of all.
You put yourself in harm’s every day to save us without even complaining. You guys are truly a gem of a people.
The support and care you provide are more powerful than medicine. Because they come with compassion and kindness. ‘’
Abid Shafi Banday, Nursing Research Scholor Email: [email protected]
