Hospital blues: Tiny patients freeze for eight litres of kerosene
District hospital gets about Rs1.5m for heaters and kerosene oil each winter.
GILGIT:
Sarah Bibi’s* four-year-old was admitted to the district headquarters hospital with abdominal pains but now the mother fears her child may be getting sicker instead of better in the paediatric ward. And this is not because of a lack of medical care. The hospital doesn’t have any heaters.
Outside the temperature is sub-zero. In this area, throughout December and January the mercury hovers between -6 and -11 degrees Celsius at best.
“There is no heating and my child is suffering in the cold,” said Sarah Bibi (not her real name). “After admitting her, I realised that it would have been better to keep my baby in my warm home than letting her freeze here.” The mother-daughter duo has been enduring the cold for four days.
Sarah Bibi bundled her daughter up in sweaters and a cap and brought along a blanket from home to supplement the one the hospital provided, but the child is still freezing.
They are not the only ones. Nearly 12 children are currently admitted to the ward and that doesn’t count for the patients in the rest of
the hospital.
Sarah Bibi has trekked all the way from Ghizer District and had no choice but to turn to the government hospital because she simply can’t afford private care. Many of the other mothers are sleeping in the hallway, she said.
In Gilgit homes people burn wood to keep warm, but in offices and government establishments such as hospitals, the kerosene oil heater is preferred. While the cheapest costs about Rs8,000 the hospitals tend to use the one that costs Rs10,000.
A doctor from another government hospital just 10km away said that they use about eight litres of kerosene oil per heater for a 24-hour run. “You would need about Rs600 to run a heater the whole day,” he said while giving an estimate based on what they do at his hospital. And for a ward with 12 children, he said they would do well with
three heaters.
The DHQ where Sarah Bibi’s daughter is admitted gets about Rs1.5 million from the government for heating each winter. It is up to the hospital to spend it on buying heaters or oil supplies. The hospital is a large establishment with over 50 beds and the children’s ward is quite wide and long. The problem is that when the doctors and administration are around they heat their offices and divvy up the money assigned to heating among themselves. Meanwhile, Sarah Bibi’s daughter’s ward doesn’t have a single heater much less kerosene oil supplies.
Small wonder that dozens of other parents made the same complaint, cursing those at the helm of affairs. They said they did not know if their patients were getting better or sicker after staying at the hospital.
An official at the hospital blamed the situation on a lack of funds and the health services director couldn’t be immediately contacted for comment. *Names have been changed to protect patient confidentiality
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
Sarah Bibi’s* four-year-old was admitted to the district headquarters hospital with abdominal pains but now the mother fears her child may be getting sicker instead of better in the paediatric ward. And this is not because of a lack of medical care. The hospital doesn’t have any heaters.
Outside the temperature is sub-zero. In this area, throughout December and January the mercury hovers between -6 and -11 degrees Celsius at best.
“There is no heating and my child is suffering in the cold,” said Sarah Bibi (not her real name). “After admitting her, I realised that it would have been better to keep my baby in my warm home than letting her freeze here.” The mother-daughter duo has been enduring the cold for four days.
Sarah Bibi bundled her daughter up in sweaters and a cap and brought along a blanket from home to supplement the one the hospital provided, but the child is still freezing.
They are not the only ones. Nearly 12 children are currently admitted to the ward and that doesn’t count for the patients in the rest of
the hospital.
Sarah Bibi has trekked all the way from Ghizer District and had no choice but to turn to the government hospital because she simply can’t afford private care. Many of the other mothers are sleeping in the hallway, she said.
In Gilgit homes people burn wood to keep warm, but in offices and government establishments such as hospitals, the kerosene oil heater is preferred. While the cheapest costs about Rs8,000 the hospitals tend to use the one that costs Rs10,000.
A doctor from another government hospital just 10km away said that they use about eight litres of kerosene oil per heater for a 24-hour run. “You would need about Rs600 to run a heater the whole day,” he said while giving an estimate based on what they do at his hospital. And for a ward with 12 children, he said they would do well with
three heaters.
The DHQ where Sarah Bibi’s daughter is admitted gets about Rs1.5 million from the government for heating each winter. It is up to the hospital to spend it on buying heaters or oil supplies. The hospital is a large establishment with over 50 beds and the children’s ward is quite wide and long. The problem is that when the doctors and administration are around they heat their offices and divvy up the money assigned to heating among themselves. Meanwhile, Sarah Bibi’s daughter’s ward doesn’t have a single heater much less kerosene oil supplies.
Small wonder that dozens of other parents made the same complaint, cursing those at the helm of affairs. They said they did not know if their patients were getting better or sicker after staying at the hospital.
An official at the hospital blamed the situation on a lack of funds and the health services director couldn’t be immediately contacted for comment. *Names have been changed to protect patient confidentiality
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.