Under one roof: Gynae patients share ward with roaches

Poor hygiene conditions at LRH put question mark over government’s claims

PESHAWAR: Lady Reading Hospital is considered Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s largest medical facility, but its gynaecology ward’s tales of horror paint a bleak picture. Cockroaches roam the floor, walls and even on the bedside tables.

Maryam Bibi, who is seven months pregnant, sits on the ward’s filthy floor, waiting for a doctor to tend to her.

Beside her, a cat is eating someone’s leftover food.

Maryam Bibi came to LRH from Hari Chand area of Charsadda with her mother-in-law after feeling some pain in her abdomen. However, she could not find an empty bed.

“We have no other choice, but to wait here,” says Maryam Bibi’s attendant. “We cannot afford expensive treatments at the big and clean hospitals. Those facilities are for rich people. There are many patients here and no one pays attention to us,” she adds.

The woman says admission fee is lower at LRH, but the staff and doctors’ discourteous behaviour is insulting.

A foul odour fills the air at the ward, making patients even more ill, while the air-conditioning system is out of order.

“The condition of toilets at LRH is even worse,” says Ruqqaiya Fatima, another patient’s attendant. “The smell is unbearable. No one cleans them and the stench prevails over the whole ward,” she adds.

Hollow claims?

The K-P government often boasts of providing the best health facilities in the country. However, people at the facility say it is shocking to see the province’s largest hospital in such a state. Potable water is not available at the ward which has 208 beds, while between 500 and 700 patients visit on any given day.

There are 59 beds in the labour room, but 125 to 150 patients visit on a daily basis. The shortage often leads to two critical patients sharing the same bed. The sheets are not changed regularly, leading to greater hygiene concerns. Around 8,000 people visit the general outpatient department at LRH and the flow of patients at emergency wards is approximately 1,000 a day, but the total number of beds is just 1,800.

LRH Media Manager Zulfiqar Ali Baba Khel tells The Express Tribune the facility is overflowing with patients. “People from across the province are referred to LRH. If another hospital of the same capacity is built in the city, it will help lighten the burden and ensure better
health care.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2016.