Though the regulations of working of the diagnostic laboratories should have been the priority for the health and medical education department in Jammu & Kashmir and more so after the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic but the authorities never bother to regulate the working of private diagnostic laboratories even in the urban areas including the twin capital cities-Srinagar and Jammu. Since the government can’t in any way look away from the complaints against the use of poor equipments for diagnostic tests in private diagnostic laboratories and overcharging for the diagnostic tests by the private diagnostic laboratories pouring in from the inaccessible rural areas day in and day out, the frequent inspections of the private diagnostic laboratories has become imperative and as well as unavoidable for the top functionaries of the health and medical education department in both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. The inspection for the purposes of the use of quality equipment for diagnostic tests and fee regulation of the diagnostic tests at the private diagnostic centres would by standards of understandabilities improve the working of diagnostic facilities across Jammu & Kashmir. In the absence of the proper regulation the mushroom growth of private diagnostic centre has gone unnoticed for years together. Unfortunately most of the people running the private diagnostic centres in rural Kashmir are not qualified technologists and fleecing of gullible patients too has gone noticed at the diagnostic centres in the inaccessible rural areas in both Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division. Better it would have been for the government to explore the possibility of uniformity in the rates for diagnostic tests at both government run hospitals and as well as private diagnostic clinics across Jammu & Kashmir.
Overseeing the working of the diagnostic laboratories at the government run hospitals and as well as private diagnostic laboratories has to be the priority for the purposes of upgrading the diagnostic facilities in the rural areas.
Uniformity not only in the rates of the diagnostic tests in the government run hospitals and private diagnostic clinics but also the availability of diagnostic equipments is required for the satisfaction of the patients. Overseeing the working of the diagnostic laboratories at the government run hospitals and as well as private diagnostic laboratories has to be the priority for the purposes of upgrading the diagnostic facilities in the rural areas. The lack of assertiveness shown by the single administrative controlling authority at the state secretariat in enforcing uniformity in the delivery of services and facilities in the hospitals controlled by both the twin departments shows that some officers of doubtful integrity holding key positions in key institutions of both the health and medical education departments for years together are trying to further the cause of exploitation with the blessings of bureaucratic top brass. The issues by all probabilities deserve the immediate attention of the government as the poor delivery of services and facilities speaks volumes about the poor management of government’s health care system in Jammu & Kashmir state. The most ticklish issue is the challenge of uniformity in the delivery of services of the hospitals controlled by both the health and medical education departments in the state. A strong vigil of the administrative controlling authority from the state secretariat on delivery of services and facilities in the hospitals of both the health and medical education departments is totally missing on ground.
