SDH Kupwara Does Not Refer; It Responds

SDH Kupwara Does Not Refer; It Responds 

Dr Basharat Khan

chogalwriter@gmail.com 

In a world where health headlines are dominated by mega hospitals, robotic surgeries, and cutting-edge technologies, it is easy to overlook the silent revolutions that take place in modest hospital wards tucked away in distant hills. But every now and then, a story emerges from the margins that reminds us what true public healthcare is about: skill, commitment, and the will to care where it's needed most.

Recently, a quiet milestone was achieved at Sub-District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara, nestled in the border district of North Kashmir. A 55-year-old man, suffering for over a month with unrelenting fever and abdominal pain, was diagnosed with a pyogenic liver abscess; a condition that, if not treated on time, can turn fatal. Imaging studies, including ultrasonography and a contrast-enhanced CT scan, confirmed abscesses in segments VI and VII of the liver.

Under normal circumstances, this case would have followed a familiar script: an ambulance ride, a hurried referral to Srinagar, and anxious waiting for a procedure in an overloaded tertiary care centre. But this time, Kupwara chose to heal its own.

With clinical clarity and courage, the Surgical team at SDH Kupwara’s opted to perform a pigtail catheter drainage of the abscess under ultrasound guidance; a procedure typically seen in more advanced centres. Six hundred millilitres of pus was successfully drained, bringing quick relief to the patient. No complications followed. The recovery began not in a faraway city, but right here, in Kupwara.

The procedure was led by Dr Gulzar Ahmad Bhat, Consultant Surgeon, and Dr Wasif Bashir, Consultant Radiologist, with support from Dr Anil (PG in Surgery), Mr Tariq Ahmad (OT Technician), Mr Tanveer, and a dedicated nursing team. The patient responded remarkably well: his fever subsided, his discomfort eased, and he began walking the path to recovery under the watchful care of his own community doctors.

This may seem like a small medical event, but it carries with it a larger message; that SDH Kupwara can rise above the reputation of being a mere referral centre. When provided with skilled manpower, basic infrastructure, and, most importantly, institutional trust, such hospitals can manage critical cases with dignity and success.

The implications are far-reaching. In a remote district like Kupwara, where geography and socioeconomic challenges already burden access to care, every procedure performed locally saves not just lives, but livelihoods. It saves patients from travel costs, emotional distress, and long absences from home. It strengthens the very idea of community-based, decentralised healthcare.

For young medical professionals posted in far-off places, this is also a moment of affirmation. It proves that their work matters; not only in statistics or performance sheets, but in human stories of recovery and hope. And for health administrators, this should be a cue: strengthening district hospitals isn’t charity; it is smart policy.

SDH Kupwara's modest operating room did more than drain an abscess. It restored confidence; in local care, in homegrown skill, and in the idea that healing need not always come from far away. Sometimes, it happens quietly, humbly, in a room where a team decides to stay, to act, and to heal.

Let us celebrate this moment not just as a first for Kupwara, but as a symbol of what is possible in every remote corner of Jammu and Kashmir; when competence is given a chance, and care is allowed to flow freely, even at the periphery.

Dr Basharat Khan is a columnist, critic, and author of the book Literary Beats. He can be reached at chogalwriter@gmail.com.