Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, April 19 

Newly installed cardiac catheterisation laboratories in Jammu and Kashmir are failing to deliver critical care due to staff shortages and weak intensive care support, doctors and officials said, raising concerns over gaps in the region’s cardiac services.

Successive governments have promoted new cath labs as a sign of improved healthcare, but many facilities lack trained cardiologists, technicians and nurses, as well as adequate ICU backup, limiting their effectiveness, they said.

During a recent assembly session, the government announced two new cath labs at government medical colleges in Doda and Baramulla to expand services in underserved areas. 

However, experts said the absence of supporting systems risks undermining their utility.

“A cath lab is not just equipment but a 24/7 system,” a specialist at a Government Medical College said, citing shortages of personnel and unclear protocols on procedures and referrals.

At Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag, which commissioned a cath lab in April 2025, more than 3000 procedures have been performed, including emergency angioplasties. But the facility continues to rely largely on deputed staff and faces space constraints, officials said.

At Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital, one of the region’s busiest emergency centres, an existing cath lab has become non-functional after staff were shifted to a nearby super-specialty hospital. Patients requiring interventional procedures are now evaluated at SMHS and then transferred by ambulance, causing delays in time-sensitive cardiac cases, doctors said.

In north Kashmir’s Baramulla, the main tertiary care centre faces widespread vacancies and lacks both MRI and cath lab facilities, forcing patients from surrounding districts to travel to Srinagar for treatment.

Doctors said the absence of clear, region-specific guidelines on where procedures should be performed and by whom has led to fragmented referral pathways, with patients often shuttled between facilities.

Health experts said expanding infrastructure without ensuring permanent staffing, trained personnel and dedicated ICU capacity risks leaving high-end equipment underutilised and patients underserved.