‘Abbasi Shaheed Hospital should be handed over to health dept’

LG minister holds KMC responsible for financial issues at the public hospital

KARACHI: If Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) cannot run Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, its administration and financial matters should be handed over to Sindh government's health department, said Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro while talking to The Express Tribune.

Shoro believes that the actual cause of financial constraints at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital is ‘over-employment’ in the KMC. He said that most of the KMC's funds are being spent in paying salaries of their employees, while on the other hand, out of 2,093 posts in the hospital, only 1,494 posts are filled and 599 posts are still vacant. According to him, the Sindh government issued a grant of Rs170 million to the KMC in August last year for all the hospitals running under it. He assured that another grant will be provided soon to ease the burden on the KMC.

Requesting anonymity, a postgraduate resident working at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital told The Express Tribune that despite working day and night and fulfilling the job requirements, the resident trainees of the hospital have not been given their due rights such as payment of salaries on time.



"When we were given the offer letter, they did not inform us that we will have to work for long hours without getting any stipend,” he said. “The offer letter clearly indicated that stipend will be given every month.” According to the resident, an internal medicine trainee working at the hospital recently committed suicide because he could not cope with the financial pressures. "We worked very hard in our lives and chose this noble profession, which we only regret now," the resident added.

House officer Muhammad Ali told The Express Tribune that it has become a trend at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital to not get stipend even after completing the 12 months training in the hospital. He added that such discrimination at the hands of the hospital management is becoming intolerable.

Meanwhile, the medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Nadeem Rajput, claimed that salaries of house officers and postgraduate trainees for the last six months will be released soon. He admitted that the hospital is in financial constraints since the Sindh government is not issuing the allocated budget to the KMC, which is why it is unable to run the hospitals.



While declining Shoro's offer that the hospital should be handed over to the health department, Moeed said the hospitals running under the health department are not in any good condition either. He said that if the Sindh government is unable to provide funds, they should shut down the hospitals. However, he added that the minister's statement is a policy statement, which is why he is unable to say anything.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra admitted that they have been facing an issue of funds. However, he added, he would visit the hospital in a few days and try to resolve their pending issues. Meanwhile, Mayor Wasim Akhtar was of the view that the state of KMC-run hospitals has worsened in the last eight years.