Lack of staff hampers healthcare provision at SRS Hospital

Posts of gynaecologists, surgeons lying vacant at the facility

KARACHI: No surgery could be performed at Sarfaraz Rafiqui Shaheed (SRS) Hospital during the last six months, due to the unavailability of consultants and shortage of other medical staff.

The 100-bed facility, run by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), has been facing acute shortage of consultants for a long period of time. Posts of consultants, including those of cardiologists, gynaecologists, orthopaedic surgeons, surgeons and an anaesthesiologist, have been lying vacant at the hospital, causing problems for the patients. Posts of resident medical officers, medical officers and female medical officers have also been lying vacant at the healthcare facility. Moreover, only 16 nurses are working at the hospital, when there are actually 26 sanctioned posts for nurses.

Reportedly, no surgery has been performed at the hospital since the retirement of the anaesthesiologist.

Desperate times: Patients in a fix over lack of facilities in hospitals

Presently, only 15 doctors are available at the hospital and the number of patients visiting its OPDs has drastically declined, due to the non-availability of consultants, medicines and other medical facilities. Only 70 to 100 patients are visiting OPDs at the hospital daily.

According to SRS Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Nadeem, surgeries and admissions at the hospital have been halted due to the shortage of consultants and a formal request for hiring more consultants has been sent to the KMC.

When contacted, KMC Medical and Health Services Director Dr Birbal Genani said that several requests pertaining to the appointment of consultants and other medical staff have been made to local government authorities, but no response has been received yet.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2019.