SRINAGAR: With summer temperatures soaring above 35 degrees, patients in the neurosurgery ward of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital, Srinagar’s oldest and premier medical institute, lie on beds, drenched in sweat, under slow-moving fans, and attendants use hand fans to help them cope with the heat.
Suhail Ahmed, whose father is admitted in the hospital, wears an exasperated expression on his face as he reveals, “there are a few fans in the wards but most of them are almost non-functional, leave alone air conditioning which is considered essential in any modern medical facility. That is nonexistent in SMHS hospital.”
Suhail’s father has spent the last fortnight in the ward. He had to be brought here because he was suffering from severe stomach infection. “Fifteen days later, though his health has improved, he’s worried that unhygienic conditions may impose their own risks,” says Suhail, who sits in the sweltering heat of the ward where 30-40 beds are squeezed in, all full of patients and 2-3 patients around them.
The bed linen under the patients is shabby, most of them with large obstinate stains that refuse to disappear after a wash. The ward is heavy with mixed odours of dust, urine and sweat.
In the Emergency ward, Shafiya, a patient in visible distress, sat in a wheelchair holding a glucose bottle. She had been experiencing pain in her left arm since morning—a symptom that her husband fears could indicate a heart problem.
Her husband said we rushed to the hospital out of fear that “her heart may be involved”, hoping for immediate and proper care.
“However, instead of conducting any cardiac test like ECG, Trop-T, or Echo, the staff gave her a Naxdom 250 tablet—commonly used to treat migraines—and a bottle of glucose,” he says with a whimper.
Then adds in a tone that is partly in complaint and partly a sign of agitation, “There was no place for her to rest, nor proper examination, and no sense of urgency in dealing with what could have been a serious issue.”
He pauses. “It’s just a waste of time waiting here. I may have to take her to a private hospital …” he says but adds that it would stretch the family economically beyond their means.
More Patients, Insufficient Staff
These are not cases in aberrations. These stories abound across this prestigious hospital that is bursting at the seams with a rush of patients and their attendants. But neither the infrastructure and its maintenance, nor the numbers of doctors and paramedical staff is enough to cope up with their needs.
At SMHS Hospital, the daily footfall has reached astonishing figures— over 10,000 people every day according to recent data available.
The hospital is facing severe shortage of doctors and paramedics. At least 400 posts are currently lying vacant. This was revealed recently through a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by activist M M Shuja, which highlighted critical gaps in staff across multiple departments.
The vacant posts include Deputy Medical Superintendent, Assistant Surgeons, Senior and Junior Grade Nurses, Pharmacists, ECG Assistants, Laboratory Assistants, Radiotherapy Assistants, Drivers, Laundry Operators, Multitasking Staff, Cooks, Sweepers, and others.
SMHS Hospital, located in Karan Nagar, Srinagar, is a major tertiary care government hospital affiliated with the Government Medical College, Srinagar. It serves as a teaching hospital and provides a wide range of services, including 24/7 emergency care, Out Patient Department (OPD) services, and In-Patient Department (IPD) services across specialties like General Medicine, Surgery, Gynaecology, ENT, Ophthalmology, Dermatology, and more.
Though there are official statements and news reports about the patient visitations to the hospital, there is no data available about the number of doctors working in the hospital or the total bed strength. As per rough but unverified estimates, the total bed strength is about 250.
Official statements in recent years have claimed several upgrades in the SMHS Hospital infrastructure, including the recent Rs 50.24 crores sanctioned for Emergency Theatre. However, there is no official data on the infrastructure of the staff available in the hospital. If there was, it is erased.
Numbers and Half-truths
The Government Medical College (GMC) official website, which maintains records of all affiliated hospitals, suffers from poor maintenance and lacks comprehensive information about the total number of doctors posted at SMHS Hospital. The data presentation is inconsistent across departments—while most departments only list teaching faculty, some include registrars and postgraduate scholars.
The available data from the official website shows varying levels of detail across departments:
Anesthesiology leads with the most comprehensive staffing, reporting 34 faculty members and 112 academic staff (including registrars and postgraduate students), totaling 146 doctors.
Dermatology has a smaller but a somewhat well-documented team of 7 faculty members and 22 registrars and postgraduate students, totaling 29 doctors.
General Surgery shows 26 faculty members, 19 registrars (notably, serial numbers 1-8 are missing from the records), and 19 postgraduate students, totaling 64 doctors.
Several departments—Radiology, ENT, General Medicine, Radio Diagnosis, Gynecology, and Ophthalmology—only provide faculty listings, showing 8, 12, 25, 33, 22, and 12 members respectively. The absence of registrar and postgraduate student data for these departments suggests significant under-reporting.
The Blood Bank and Transfusion department presents only a message from the Head of Department, providing no staffing information whatsoever.
Beyond departmental doctors, the hospital employs 7 Medical Officers and 7 Casualty Medical Officers, bringing the documented total to 365 doctors, including those in administrative positions.
The incomplete and inconsistent data makes it difficult to accurately assess the doctor-to-patient ratio at SMHS Hospital. However, the available information from departments with complete listings suggests that staffing levels may be inadequate to meet patient care demands.
What Visit to SMHS Reveals
The Kashmir Times assessed the tremendous pressure under which doctors are working here at the hospital after spending several hours observing how things function at the hospital, besides conversations with patients, attendants and some staffers.
However, doctors were extremely reluctant to talk and a few said, “we are not allowed to speak to the media”. Others were too scared to even respond.
At the medical emergency, 3 doctors were sitting in the corridor on chairs to check hundreds of patients in the surgical emergency. No desks, tables or beds, the patients stood in the queues and the doctors were examining trauma cases, critical conditions, accident victims, and routine emergencies all at once.
“It’s impossible to give proper attention to each case,” said a junior nurse on the condition of anonymity. “Doctors and nurses are constantly rushed, stressed, and operating in crisis mode. It’s not good for patients, and it’s not fair to the doctors either.”
To fill up the gaps in the staff shortage, the Emergency ward relies often on interns and trainees.
Nelofar Jan, a patient said that interns and trainees are still learning and not fully trained to carry out procedures, they are made to handle blood samples and injections without proper skills. “It almost feels like we are being used as guinea pigs,” she said.
“They poked my arm and hands seven times just to take a blood sample. My veins are swollen now. This is not treatment; this is torture,” Nelofar complained.
Both inside the medical and surgical emergency block of SMHS Hospital, over a hundred patients filled the emergency sections, but there were only 3 to 4 doctors available in each unit.
Supporting them were 10 to 15 intern nurses, many of whom were seen taking blood samples or attempting to insert IV drips—often requiring multiple attempts, as many of them are still undergoing training.
Whenever a new patient arrives— whether suffering from an accident, a critical medical emergency, or another severe condition—there was often a delay, with patients having to wait in queues, as their anxious attendants ran to and fro, looking for immediate attention.
Whether someone came in with a stomachache, headache, or chest discomfort, the response from doctors was often the same: a quick prescription of Pantop Injections, a few common tablets, or in some cases just glucose drips. For stomach issues, a referral for USG (ultrasound) was advised, but without much explanation or follow up.
For headaches or chest pain, drugs like Petril or Naxdom were being administered—almost as a default solution.
A Consultation a Minute
Each consultation lasted barely a minute, sometimes even less.
One patient waiting for hours looked visibly distressed. He was complaining of severe headache and chest discomfort. According to his mother, they felt the medical staff was not addressing his condition seriously.
After hours of waiting, in frustration, the patient tore up his prescription and left the hospital abruptly. “It’s a waste of time,” he said and left.
Patients in SMHS hospital are admitted for a wide range of health issues, ranging from accident-related injuries, common fevers, and chronic pain to critical cases like cancer and those requiring dialysis or other long-term treatments. Every day, thousands of patients and their attendants walk through its gates of hope.
However, almost everyone the Kashmir Times spoke to, shared a common concern - the disturbing condition of basic facilities in the hospital. From overcrowded wards to crumbling infrastructure, from lack of staff to unhygienic washrooms, many described their experience as deeply disappointing and emotionally draining.
Littered Floors & ‘Disaster Zone’ Bathrooms
Hours of walking through the hospital wards and corridors and listening to the stories of patients and their attendants, the most striking sights and words are about medical waste littered on the floors, badly mopped floors that stink even after minutes of cleaning with insects hovering and even rodents scurrying around.
The washrooms are a hot spot for the unwanted living creatures where they happily breed in its filth unchecked.
As one patient commented, “This is not a hospital; it’s a disaster zone” and follows up with a question, “How can healing happen in such an environment?”
Many patients and visitors refusing to use bathrooms. “It’s not just dirty—it’s downright dangerous for anyone already sick,” said Masooma from Budgam, who had brought her mother for treatment.
Masooma said, “There is no soap, no proper water, and the smell is horrible….. If you weren’t sick when you came in, you’ll fall sick just by using the toilet.”
Attendants usually wait till they can go back home, she said but patients must rely on the dirty bathrooms. Some get their own buckets and stuff to maintain some hygiene.
“We are helpless. We have no choice but to come to SMHS Hospital for treatment because we can’t afford anything else. But the doctors here don’t give us proper care. We’re ignored or made to wait endlessly because queues are long, and hundreds of patients waiting.”
“In the end, we’re forced to go to private clinics or hospitals, even if we have to borrow money,” she adds.
Inside the women's washroom, dustbins were overflowing with used, bloody sanitary napkins. Since morning, patients and attendants were continuously disposing off sanitary waste into the same bin. By early afternoon, they were filled beyond the brim and not cleared.
The stench was unbearable as temperatures soared at 34–35°C.
No basic essentials existed. No soaps. No mugs. Only a worn-out dirty bucket, placed right inside the sink.
The condition of the men's washroom was even worse. The flush system was not working; the flush where water should be available had no lid or water. It was clogged with cigarette boxes and syringe covers, used like an additional dustbin.
Doors in many of the washrooms examined had no locks, and the windows were broken, compromising privacy and safety. The toilet area was a mess, the surface around the seat had a yellowish tint, and the smell was unbearable, further adding to the discomfort and health risks.
The taps didn’t exist in one bathroom and a used syringe was stuck in the gaping holes left behind by the missing taps, the floors were dirty and cluttered.
The Kashmir Times, made every possible effort to get answers from the concerned authorities, including Health Secretary Abid Rashid and Health and Education Minister Sakina Itoo. The messages sent to them via WhatsApp and SMS did not elicit any response. Several and repeated phone calls went unanswered. Both were unavailable when the Kashmir Times visited their offices.
After a long wait, the Kashmir Times managed to contact the personal assistant of Sakina Itoo who took our contact details and assured us of a follow-up. However, despite further attempts to reach out on July 6 and 7, no response was received till the publication of this report.
(The names of the journalists and photographers who reported this story have been withheld for fear of reprisal. Inputs added by the Kashmir Times News Desk)
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