At ‘New City Hospital’ golden cards are not entertained, patients, attendants suffer

In Kashmir capital Srinagar, many private hospitals claim to offer the best services when it comes to patient care management and hygiene. However, many private hospitals are already in the news for the wrong reasons. A hospital was recently in the news after back-to-back cases of alleged medical negligence were witnessed there, prompting authorities to shut its Operation Theater.

Many attendants told the news agency Kashmir News Trust that the management at New City Hospital, located in Tengpora Bypass doesn’t entertain Golden Cards, though dozens of posters and banners are pasted on the hospital walls and gates highlighting the benefits of the Golden Card and the advantages being reaped by the patients.

One of the attendants Zubair Ahmed Khan from Alochi Bagah area of Srinagar said that his uncle was supposed to undergo surgery on 23 November in the said hospital, however, they were told that the hospital doesn’t entertain ‘Golden Cards’.

“Golden Card advertisements on the hospital walls are there to mislead naïve patients,” he said adding that somehow, they arranged money for the surgery, but even after that they faced a lot of problems in the hospital.

“There is no heating arrangement in the hospital. In this chilly season, patients and attendants suffer massively in this private hospital.”

“The irony is that ward number 1 in the said hospital has just a single washroom where patients are kept post-surgery. Both male and female share the same washroom,” he added.

“On what basis government is allowing some influential people to run hospitals when they offer no proper service to the patients and attendants? This hospital is there to mint money from the naïve people,” Zubair Ahmed said and appealed to authorities to look into the matter.