Hospital with no ambulance

SARGODHA:

The only ambulance at the tehsil headquarters hospital in Noorpur Thal has been non-operational for two years, creating impediments for citizens who need emergency transport to the public health facility.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Muhammad Amjad, a resident of a village in the area, said the ambulance had broken down two years ago.

“We thought this was a temporary problem,” he said. “In times of emergency, people started bringing their loved ones to the hospital on private vehicles.”

He said frequently, seriously ill patients were referred to the public hospital in Joharabad. “Shortage of transport in such cases is a great inconvenience.”

He said there were 87 villages in Noorpul Thal and scores of people had been affected by the lack of an ambulance.

Muhammad Amjad said his mother had fallen ill a few months ago. “I took her to the hospital from where she was referred to Joharabad,” he said. “When I asked for help in taking her there, I was told that the hospital ambulance had broken down a long time ago.”

Talking to The Express Tribune, THQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Tahir Hayat said he had taken charge recently.

“The previous administration had moved a request to the Health Department to provide a new ambulance. It will be available soon.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2016.