Sleeping on it: Govt admits, capital hospitals lack beds

CADD minister says government to establish four more hospitals

ISLAMABAD:

Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Minister Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary admitted before the National Assembly that government hospitals in the capital were facing a shortage of beds and other medical facilities.

In a written reply to a question raised by Munaza Hassan --- a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member of the National Assembly --- the state minister revealed that the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) was facing severe shortage of beds in all of its departments.

He said that in 1986-1987, when Pims opened for business, it had two wings --- the 500-bed Islamabad Hospital (IH) and the 150-bed Children’s Hospital (CH).

The minister said that with the passage of time, new services delivery wings were added, including the 150-bed Mother and Child Healthcare Centre (MCHC), the 20-bed Burns Care Centre (BCC), the 120-bed Cardiac Centre, and a 20-bed Liver Transplant Unit.

He said that in 1987, Pims had 650 beds for a daily patient load of 782 and a total budget of Rs533.990 million, while in 2015, the number of beds was 1,168, the daily patient load was 3,250, and the total budget was Rs3.15 billion.

“There is also a shortage of beds at the Federal Government Services Hospital (Polyclinic),” Dr Chaudhary said, explaining that Polyclinic had 545 beds to cater to 5,000-to-6,000 daily visitors.

“These patients are residents of Islamabad and nearby areas. The bed occupancy rate is more than 100 per cent,” the CADD minister said.

He also admitted that the National Institute of Rehabilitation Medicines (NIRM) was also facing shortage of beds.

Chaudhary said that NIRM was set up exclusively for persons with disabilities, but now also catered to referrals from PIMS and Polyclinic.

The minister said Capital Hospital had 280 beds and would add another 100 beds soon.

Chaudhary said a PC-1 for the addition of 40 beds in the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre at Pims had been approved.  NIRM, however, had not seen an increase in beds since January 2013.

Chaudhary said that the hospital was trying to get possession of an adjacent plot of land for expansion.



In a written reply to another question raised by Pakistan PML-N MNA Shaikh Rohale Asghar, the minister stated that extension of Polyclinic into Argentina Park had been planned since 2013.

He said Rs44.848 million had been paid to the CDA for the parkland.

Chaudhary said that after extension the number of beds in the hospital would double, going from 545 to 1,100.

The minister further explained that the CADD had initiated work for the establishment of four tertiary care hospitals, one in the city and three in the outskirts.

He said PC-1s for the proposed hospitals were being prepared.

The minister further stated that the Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU) vice-chancellor had requested the CDA chairperson, to allocate 22.3 kanal land in I-12 for construction of a 1,200 bed hospital, a medical college and a university.

Chaudhary said that the purchase of land for the extension of polyclinic was in its final stages and for the remaining four proposed hospital projects, the CDA would be approached to earmark the land as per the proposed PC-1s.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 18^th, 2016.