With the Vacation of senior doctors across the Valley especially from the two prominent hospitals, SKIMS and SMHS, the department has come under severe criticism with the patients alleging it to be a reason of immense hardships.

The patents and attendants told local newsgathering agency KNS that they are facing immense hardships in the hospital due to the non-availability of senior medicos in the prominent medical institutes.

“The junior doctors in the Valley hospitals are not fully trained thereby are not capable to deal with the emergency cases. An absence of senior medicos in the hospital is forcing patients to visit to the private clinics where we have to spent huge amount,” an attendant from Koker Bazar said.

He said that by granting vacation to the senior medicos, the government has left people here to lurch at large. “Despite huge inconvenience faced by public due to dire shortage of doctors in hospitals, senior doctors are allowed for winter vacation,” he said.

The patients as well as attendants said that it is ironical that faculty of premier hospital is allowed to leave at a time when their services are needed most. “Patients are left to die due to non-availability of senior doctors during harsh winter when Kashmir remains cut-off from rest of the world,” he said.

Sources informed that hundreds of patients, every day turn up at these hospitals from far flung areas only to be told that senior doctors are on leave. “These hospitals in absence of senior doctors are run by junior doctors who find it difficult to cope with the rush of patients and are unable to handle complicated cases,” they said.(Agencies)