The tiny heart: K-P without cardiac surgeons for infants

PESHAWAR:

If your infant weighs less than 10 kilogrammes and suffers from cardiac issues, there is not a single cardiac surgeon in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) who can perform a heart surgery if need be.

With the absence of paediatric cardiac surgeons at the Paediatric Cardiology Ward of Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), parents or relatives have to travel long distances to find treatment for such children.

Most of these tiny patients are either taken to cities like Lahore or the federal capital for the procedure, which is risky enough without the additional aspect of travelling in a pressurised cabin or a tricky train journey.

Needless to say, it is an expensive and gut-wrenching process.

Understaffed, underequipped

The province’s lone paediatric cardiology ward, able to offer surgeries, was inaugurated about three months ago at LRH. It provides services to not only K-P, but also the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and even takes in cases from neighboring Afghanistan. As a result, the staff finds it difficult to manage as the 15 beds in the ward prove to be insufficient. One LRH employee said Hayatabad Medical Complex is also not equipped to conduct cardiac surgeries on infants—or even on adults—and all procedures are performed at Lady Reading.

According to a staff member requesting anonymity, there is not a single cardiac coronary care unit (CCU) at the paediatric cardiology ward at LRH.

The ward also faces an acute shortage of staff despite the fact that it has been established at the province’s most well-equipped hospital. Seven to eight surgeries are performed there in a week and all of this is being managed by a single specialised surgeon.

One of the staff members says positions for three medical officers have been approved, but have not been appointed yet.

Home is where the heart is

Children with heart diseases like Ventricular Septal Defects (VSD), Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) and Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA) are mostly admitted to LRH where most of them are treated without surgery. However, when it comes to performing surgery on a child weighing less than 10 kilogrammes, parents are advised to shift the patients outside their home province of K-P to Lahore or the federal capital.

The staff members say the government’s claims of providing free medicines are baseless as even vials for collecting blood are purchased by parents from outside the hospital. They say the only medicines available at the ward are antibiotics.

“We are overburdened, and feel sorry for parents who are advised to take their kids elsewhere for surgery,” says Assistant Professor and LRH Paediatric Cardiac Ward In Charge Dr Ijaz Hussain. However, he adds the best cardiac surgeons for adults are at this medical facility.

He says the LRH administration extends its complete support by providing the ward with space for paediatric cardiology. Minister for Health Shahram Tarakai and Secretary Health Mushtaq Jadoon could not be contacted despite several attempts.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2rd, 2015.