Lone nephrologist shifted, services at dialysis unit hit

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 10

Patients to the dialysis unit at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital here are an inconvenienced lot as the Health Department has transferred out the only nephrologist here.

The Health Department offers dialysis services free of cost to patients. Now, with no nephrologist available here, patients would have to suffer problems. In 2017, the government had announced to provide free dialysis services to all categories of kidney patients.

Officials at the hospital said earlier too when the previous nephrologist was transferred out, the unit had remained closed for almost nine months as no replacement was given by the department.

The Employees’ Welfare Association recently raised the issue with the Health Minister and demanded that a trained nephrologist should be appointed at the hospital so that patients could get the facility.

Rakesh Sharma, chairman of the association, said, many patients could not afford hefty charges by private clinics. He said though the facility was also available at Government Medical College, but it was not possible to cater to the needs of all patients at one facility. He demanded that in view of the loss of public health services for the poor, the appointment should be made immediately.

The officials said the matter had already been brought to the notice of higher-ups, including the Health Minister, during his visits to the city recently. Civil Surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said the matter had been taken up with higher-ups and hopefully a replacement would be made available at the earliest.