Dysfunctional medical equipment hinders services at KIHD

Doctors and paramedical staff call for open an inquiry into alleged irregularities at the facility

KARACHI:

Administrative failure and lack of funds have reportedly affected services at the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD), the largest health facility for cardiovascular diseases operating under the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. Hundreds of patients arriving at the hospital to avail free of charge medical treatment - many travelling long distances from areas deprived of tertiary healthcare facilities - are met with poor health services including dysfunctional medical equipment and shortage of staff.

Doctors and paramedical staff employed at the facility have called for newly appointed Karachi Administrator and Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab to open an inquiry into alleged irregularities at the facility.

KIDH Executive Director Dr Riffat Sultana told The Express Tribune that angiography machines at the health facility have been dysfunctional for over a month. However, she added, the administration is aware of the fault and is importing replacement parts for them from Singapore.

For low-income patients the wait is troublesome for in the absence of angiography machines at the public hospital they are forced to pay hefty charges at private health facilities. Patients who spoke to The Express Tribune claimed that doctors and higher-ups at KIHD frequently referred patients to private facilities and clinics.

When asked about these referrals, Dr Sultana said that she and other healthcare providers at KIHD were also engaged in private practice. She added that patients are diverted to private facilities as the machines at the public facility were out of order. "I also work at a private hospital on Korangi Road. [So] I advise my patients to come to my private clinic if they wish to get the tests done sooner."

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According to Dr Sultana, there were five angiography machines at KIHD. Two of them were discarded as they were older models and could not be repaired any further while the other three were awaiting parts that needed to be replaced. The latter three will be fixed after Ashura and angiography patients will not be diverted then, she said.

Dr Sultana added that the hospital administration had already intimated the new city administrator and urged the provincial government to inspect irregularities. She claimed that the government had not supplied medicines to the facility since 2011.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2021.