SEC issues instructions regarding referral of patients to tertiary health care institutions in JK

Srinagar: State Executive Committee (SEC) Tuesday issued several instructions with respect to the referral of COVID-19 positive patients to tertiary health care institutions.
“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 24 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and in reiteration of departmental instructions on the subject, the State Executive Committee hereby issues the following instructions for strict compliance by the concerned authorities with immediate effect,” an order issued in this regard stated.
“SKIMS Soura, SMHS Hospital Srinagar, Chest Diseases Hospital, Srinagar, and SKIMS Medical College & Hospital Bemina, Srinagar, in Kashmir division and GMC, Jammu; CD Hospital, Jammu and ASCOMS (Batra), Jammu, in Jammu division shall be designated as Tertiary care-1 institutions and referred to as category-l referral hospitals,” it said and added that all COVID positive patients with mild/moderate symptoms shall first be admitted in Category-II/III hospitals, at sub-district/district level, or any other hospital which is not a category-I referral hospital. Such patients shall not be directly admitted to any category-I referral hospital mentioned above.
Those patients, it further added, shall be admitted and treated in Category-I referral hospitals only if they are duly referred by a concerned district level hospital or a non-category-I referral hospital. This will be ensured by all the Chief Medical Officers and supervised by the Deputy Commissioners concerned;
“Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir/Jammu with the assistance of Director, Health Services, Kashmir/Jammu, shall put in place a mechanism to monitor the compliance of the above instructions at all levels,” it said.
The order also stated that Heads of the Tertiary care institutions/ category-I referral hospitals shall not deviate from these instructions without the knowledge of Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir/Jammu.
“Any deviation from this order shall attract penal action under the Disaster Management Act, 2005.