“As foreign trained doctors after qualifying Foreign Medical Graduates Entrance Examination are desperately looking for jobs, the private hospitals engage them on monthly salaries of just Rs 25-30,000”.
Like private schools the private hospitals in Kashmir are also run on profit driven practices not guided by any ethical considerations. The victims of these profit driven practices of private hospitals are foreign trained doctors engaged by them after qualifying Foreign Medical Graduates Entrance Examination held by National Board of Examinations annually. As the foreign trained doctors after qualifying Foreign Medical Graduates Entrance Examination are desperately looking for jobs, the private hospitals engage them on monthly salaries of just Rs 25-30,000 to run their Out Patient Departments besides asking them to assist senior doctors in the conduct of critical surgeries. These way private hospitals not only put the lives of patients at risk at the hands of inexperienced doctors but also exploit the foreign trained doctors just for implementing their own profit driven practices that unfortunately haven’t caught the attention of the top functionaries of health & Medical Education Department in Jammu & Kashmir. While private hospitals don’t offer affordable healthcare facilities to people by charging them heavily even for the diagnostic tests not to talk of major health facilities, they yet again exploit foreign trained doctor by paying them monthly salaries of just Rs 25-30,000. Though allegations in Kashmir are galore that high-cost treatments, unnecessary investigations, interventions, and ICU utilization leading to inflated medical bills are the major profit driven practices pursued by private hospitals but yet again the Government does not look for some regulatory majors to contain and control the profit driven practices of private hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir.
“Experiences of decades have shown that Governments in States and Union Territories play a significant role not only in providing quality healthcare services to people of low-middle-income groups in Government hospitals but also in regulating the working of private hospitals largely depending on the availability of best trained experienced doctors. Unfortunately Jammu & Kashmir Government does not even think about regulating the working of private hospitals the most crucial part of which could be the verification of the academic merit of the foreign trained doctors and their experience. Since the prime concern of the people is the availability of best trained doctors at private hospitals like Government hospitals, it for the Health and Medical Education Department to regulating the procedures and processes of the engagements of doctors at private hospitals.”
Reports about the deaths of patients due to negligence of doctors at private hospitals are appearing in newspapers day in and day out but in absence of regulatory measures private hospital evade action the way shopkeepers evades action even for overpricing activities under broad day light in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. Experiences of decades have shown that Governments in States and Union Territories play a significant role not only in providing quality healthcare services to people of low-middle-income groups in Government hospitals but also in regulating the working of private hospitals largely depending on the availability of best trained experienced doctors. Unfortunately Jammu & Kashmir Government does not even think about regulating the working of private hospitals the most crucial part of which could be the verification of the academic merit of the foreign trained doctors and their experience. Since the prime concern of the people is the availability of best trained doctors at private hospitals like Government hospitals, it for the Health and Medical Education Department to regulating the procedures and processes of the engagements of doctors at private hospitals
