The 400-bed Sindh Government Qatar Hospital in Orangi Town is facing serious administrative and medical mismanagement issues. The process of providing medical treatment to patients is badly affected due to shortage of medical and paramedical staff including doctors.
Paediatric department of the hospital it the worth hit where people coming with their children have to wait for hours for their turn to see a doctor. Most of the times people lose patience as a result heated arguments take place between parents and the hospital staff.
Most of the equipment and diagnostic machines including CT Scan, MRI, endoscopy and fibro scan have been out of order since long. Patients are being shifted to other hospitals due to lack of facilities. The hospital's cold storage is also inactive. The robotic surgery machine installed years ago is not also not in use.
The new Qatar Hospital has about 100 beds while the old one has more than 300 beds.
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According to the patients, their time is wasted because of lack of medical facilities and shortage of doctors. In most cases the condition of sick children aggravates when they are brought with emergency cases but not attended for hours.
Patients also complain that they have to return home without getting any medical treatment.
The patients question, "Where does the budget provided by the provincial health department go if things are not in place in the hospital."
In this regard, when the Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital Abdul Hafeez Tonio was contacted, he said that the CT scan machine was out-of-order before his posting in the hospital.
Repair of the machine will cost at least Rs4.5 million, he said, adding, MRI and endoscopy facilities are also not available in the hospital.
The MS further mentioned that Robotic surgery is an expensive treatment. A single surgery costs about Rs0.25 million, which is not possible with the budget and other funds the hospital receives. As many as 150 posts are lying vacant after the retirement or deaths of staff members.
The Sindh government has been informed about current situation of the hospital and it is hoped that these issues will be resolved soon; he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2022.
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