Healthcare woes: Holy Family without X-ray facility for past two months

Doctors say hospital has insufficient funds to meet basic requirements of patients.

RAWALPINDI:

The X-ray machines at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in Rawalpindi are not working for the past two months.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior doctor of HFH, requesting anonymity, said they are experiencing technical faults with the X-ray machines for the past two months, while the hospital is also short on x-ray films.Th

HFH is a tertiary health care centre and the absence of basic diagnostic facility of X-ray can cause serious problems, as X-rays are needed to diagnose chest related problems and fractures, said the senior doctor said. “The hospital administration is trying hard to cope with the problem,” he said.

X-ray facility is provided free of charge at emergency departments of HFH, Benazir Bhutto Hospital (BBH) and District Headquarter Hospital, the three allied hospitals, while Rs50 are charged from patients at Outdoor Patients Department (OPD).

The issue was raised by the hospital doctors during their meeting with Secretary Health Punjab Dr Jahanzeb Khan here on Tuesday. They said that the hospital has insufficient funds to meet even the basic requirements of patients.

An official of the BBH administration said that the shortage of X-ray films will be addressed soon. He explained the funds have run dry towards the end of the fiscal year and will be replenished soon. Until funds are available, the available stock will be used for emergency purposes, he added.

HFH Medical Superintendent Dr Fiaz Ahmed denied that the hospital is facing any shortage of X-ray films or technical faults with its X-ray machines.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2011.