Liaquatabad Hospital revives cardiac unit after 12 years

Lithotripsy machine still out of order even after lapse of 13 years

KARACHI:

The Sindh Government Liaquatabad Hospital has reactivated its cardiac unit after a lapse of 12 years, while a lithotripsy machine meant for treating kidney stones, installed 13 years ago, remains non-functional, pointing to the state of affairs of the provincial healthcare system.

The cardiac unit was originally established in 2002 and was later handed over to an NGO for two years. However, due to negligence on the part of the Provincial Health Department, the unit remained practically non-functional for the last 12 years.

Sources said that the cardiac unit once held a unique position in the hospital for the diagnosis and treatment of heart patients, but continued negligence and poor management rendered it inactive, causing serious difficulties for cardiac patients in District Central in accessing treatment. During this period, the machinery and medical equipment installed in the unit also became unusable.

The hospital's medical superintendent, Dr Atiq Qureshi, renovated the unit and formally re-inaugurated it on Wednesday, restoring its operations. Dr Qureshi told The Express Tribune that dozens of cardiac patients visit the hospital daily. He added that facilities for echocardiography and exercise tolerance tests (ETT) have now been made available in the unit.

Dr Qureshi further stated that under the hospital's own funding, echocardiography and ETT machines worth more than Rs40 million have been installed. He also disclosed that an anesthesia machine worth Rs10 million, which had been lying out of order for several years, was repaired at a cost of Rs1 million and made operational.

However, a lithotripsy machine installed 13 years ago for breaking kidney stones through shock waves has still not been taken out of its large wooden crate.