Health issues: Govt striving to upgrade suburban hospitals: Dahar

Health minister says that this is being done to minimise pressure on tertiary care hospitals

KARACHI: In order to minimise pressure on tertiary care hospitals, the government is planning to upgrade hospitals located in the suburbs, said Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar on Wednesday.

He, along with Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, commissioner Asif Hyder Shah and others, visited Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Wednesday.

“There is huge pressure on JPMC,” said Dahar. “We are trying to upgrade other hospitals located in [the] suburbs to minimise pressure on tertiary care hospitals.” He added that the issue of shortage of staff will be addressed soon.



The governor said that the law and order situation in the city also affected different institutions, including hospitals, so the government is now concentrating on improving them. “I have come here to help you,” said Khan, addressing the JPMC management. He said that the JPMC receives patients not only from Karachi but other parts of the country as well since it is considered one of the largest health facilities. The governor urged health authorities to provide better facilities to patients.

He said that the issues of the hospitals, including appointment of staff and doctors, will be addressed soon with the help of the Sindh government. He said that there are a number of issues the government was facing but, he added, it will be better in the next six months.

Replying to a question about his visit to the Tharparkar district, Khan said that the provincial health department has done an excellent job. “I’ll visit the area soon,” he confirmed.

Briefing the governor, JPMC executive director Prof Anisuddin Bhatti said that the hospital was built in 1930 and it was the first institution named after Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his life. It had 74 acres of land, 23 of which are illegally occupied, while the hospital facility is spread on only 14 acres of land, he said. Prof Bhatti said that the JPMC has 15 schools and is a complete university complex. It is a 1,380-bed hospital with a total strength of 2,646 staff members but, he pointed out, there are 740 vacancies that are not being filled due to a case going on in the high court. He said that the Sindh government has doubled the JPMC’s budget since it was handed over to the provincial government.

According to the JPMC head, the hospital is the top priority of all kinds of patients. A total 5,000 patients visit the JPMC in a day, which is three times more than other hospitals in the city. He said that around 60,000 patients were admitted in the hospital last year, while at least 600,000 patients were registered in various departments.

The governor was informed that better health facilities will be available to patients after the construction of the eight-storey building within the hospital premises. Khan visited different wards, including emergency ward, and assured the hospital management that JPMC’s problems will be addressed on a priority basis. He urged the management to provide free of charge medicines to the patients.

The governor had visited Abbasi Shaheed Hospital last week and also inaugurated the polio campaign in the city. During his visit to the JPMC, he confirmed that different hospitals will be visited so that they can improve their system.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th,  2016.