No emergency dept at Sindh Government Children Hospital

The emergency department of Sindh Government Children Hospital (SGCH) located near Nagan Chowrangi has been non-functional for the last six months due to which emergency cases are being sent back without getting treatment.

According to SGCH officials, a ward has been set up in OPD department to deal with emergency cases coming to the hospital. However, it is only active during OPD hours.

Moreover, there is a medicine crisis in the government hospital, which is supposed to provide free medicines and healthcare to every person. Officials said that the tertiary care children hospital was without a laboratory facility since December 2021.

SGCH Medical Superintendent Dr Nadeem Sheikh told The Express Tribune that the hospital budget was being provided to Poverty Eradication Initiative (NGO). An MoU was signed in 2016 under a public-private partnership. By January 2021, budget for the hospital was provided by Sindh Health Department. However, since January 2021, the hospital has been facing budget shortfall. Emergency Department was shut due to the lack of funds too, he said.

A large number of children suffering from fever and diarrhea were treated in the hospital. The hospital has a staff of 87.

Dr Sheikh said that even before this, the hospital has faced budget deficit three times. The laboratory at the hospital is also closed due to lack of budget. Earlier, the hospital had 250 beds. However, there are no beds in the hospital now.

The hospital has only an OPD and a small emergency ward. The CBC Vaccination Center is not for children. The vaccination center is overseen by the DHOs. Health department has set up an emergency room of vaccination center in the hospital due to the vaccination campaign in Sindh. He said that as a government employee he was trying to make medical facilities available to the people despite the problems they were facing.

MoU started in 2016 and will continue till 2027, Dr Tawfiq, head of the Poverty Eradication Initiative (PEI) at the hospital, told the Express Tribune. However, the budget is not being provided by Sindh Health Department. There were more than 350 PEI employees employed in the hospital. However, due to non-payment of salaries, many employees have resigned.

Dr Shiekh said that the hospital was allocated annual budget of around Rs400 million. However, the provincial department has yet to release the allocation. "The allocation for the SGCH has not been paid for the last 10 months. Employees have protested dozens of times in this regard. We demand health department to release SGCH."

Hundreds of children are brought to the hospital from different parts of the country for treatment. The parents of the children said that the staff of Sindh Health Department is present here but due to non-provision of budget there is a crisis of medical facilities. Emergency ward is an important department of every hospital.

The issue of number of tests, medicines and staff in the hospital is connected to the budget. Sindh Health Department is demanded to resolve the issue immediately. Doctors protest over non-payment of salaries. The issue is constantly being ignored. Due to rising prices, the poor cannot even imagine getting treatment from a private hospital. In this situation, the hospital is a capital for people across the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2022.