The recovery of an endoscopy machine from a doctor’s room in Super Specialty Hospital, Jammu could be the first such instance which has come out in public. The doctor in question from whose room the machine was recovered after the Health Minister intervened and asked the Principal of Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu to get the lock of the room broke open and the refusal of the doctor to cooperate despite many communications shows the poor state of health service. Corruption, nepotism, misappropriation of funds and facilities, doctors-pharma companies, doctors-lab nexus are some of the other maladies that have made the health service notorious for its patient accountability. Life of a patient for a government doctor is just speck of a dust otherwise how could a doctor just keep a life saving machine worth over Rs 1 crore from the hospital inventory under his custody? Was he over protective or was he trying to siphon it off? These are some of the questions that would remain unanswered. The hospital has under gone frequent fire incidents in the past. Taking the present case as an indicator one can surmise that these incidents were no accidents but could be a cover up for some big bungling. Started with much fanfare the Super Specialty Hospital has never been able to make a mark in patient care but has become a cozy joint for notorious nexuses. This could be one reason why Jammu has become a fertile ground for players from outside the State and even people do not have confidence over the quality of medical services and the doctors. Left with no better and affordable alternative people depend on these ‘medical shops’ who operate from outside the State and are forced to spend whopping amount for treatment.
