Following the collapse of the cardiac department’s services at the Government Super Speciality Hospital (SSH) in Jammu, the J&K and Ladakh High Court on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance and sought the J&K government’s response in the matter. The disruption of the services has been attributed to the non-supply of emergency medical equipment, such as stents and pacemakers, by authorised suppliers.
Asking the court’s Registrar (Judicial) to register and number a petition as ‘Court on its own motion vs Nemo’ in public interest, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal issued notices to the Commissioner-Secretary Health, Principal Government Medical College and Superintendent of the Super Speciality Hospital in the matter.
The Bench asked Senior Additional Advocate General Monika Kohli, who accepted the notices in open court, to file the government’s response by the next date of hearing on December 11.
She apprised the Bench that the government has issued showcause notices to the vendors/suppliers for suspending the supply of life-saving drugs and devices. “We are also in touch with them, and we are in the process of procuring supplies from other sources,” she said.
The Bench also requested advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, who had drawn the court’s attention to the matter during hearings in other pending PILs seeking adequate medical facilities in the Capital cities of J&K, to act as amicus and assist the court in the present PIL as well.
The services of the cardiac department in the Government’s Super Specialty Hospital had on Monday morning come to a halt as authorised vendors/suppliers, following the non-clearance of dues amounting to nearly Rs 30 crore under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), abruptly suspended the supply of emergency cardiac devices including stents, pacemakers, balloons and Cath Lab consumables, which are required during surgery of cardiac patients.
These dues had accumulated over the past year, and these were not cleared despite repeated reminders and formal notices over the past three months, one of the suppliers said, adding that the parent companies refused to dispatch them fresh consignments without the settlement of the overdue amount.
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Pointing out that nearly two dozen cardiac procedures are conducted at SSH’s Cath Lab daily, a senior doctor, who wished not to be named, described the situation as alarming and posing a serious threat to vulnerable cardiac patients.
“The operation of the Cath Lab is dependent entirely on the timely availability of these high-value emergency devices, and once their supply is stopped, we have no option but to postpone all the procedures,” the doctor said.
The PMJAY scheme in Jammu and Kashmir extends benefits of cashless health coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per year for secondary and tertiary medical care to all permanent residents of the Union Territory, irrespective of their income or status. Over 254 public and private hospitals are empanelled under the scheme.
