Nishtar-II fails to deliver amid acute staff shortage

ICU remains non-functional, surgeries delayed as hospital struggles to ease patient burden

MULTAN:

Nishtar-II Hospital in Multan, established to reduce the growing patient burden on Nishtar Hospital-I, has yet to achieve its primary objective due to a severe shortage of administrative and medical staff, sources revealed.

According to hospital insiders, Nishtar-II has been facing a persistent human resource crisis since its inception. As a result, its Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains non-operational to date, forcing critically ill patients to be shifted to other hospitals located several kilometres away. The situation has also affected surgical services, with patients being given long waiting dates for operations.

Sources attribute the delay mainly to an acute shortage of doctors and technical staff in the anaesthesia department. The hospital currently has six operation tables, but running them simultaneously has become a major challenge for the administration. Due to staff constraints, only three to four operation tables are functional during the morning shift, while the situation further deteriorates in evening and night shifts, where only gynaecological and emergency surgeries are performed.

Internal sources further claimed that several doctors at Nishtar-II are giving limited time to the hospital while prioritising private practice, adversely affecting public healthcare services.

Another serious issue has emerged regarding operation theatre (OT) staff. Sources disclosed that not a single OT assistant has been formally recruited at the hospital. To fill the gap, employees hired under the janitorial cadre are being assigned duties as OT assistants.

It is learnt that most of these assistants are officially designated as janitorial staff and are paid salaries equivalent to sanitation workers, despite performing highly sensitive and technical tasks. Experts warn that this practice not only violates service rules but also contravenes medical and legal standards, posing potential risks to patient safety.

Official communications sent by the Department of Anaesthesia and ICU have requested immediate recruitment for dozens of vacant positions to ensure the provision of basic healthcare services. Documents reveal that to run 10 operation theatres (six elective and four emergency), the hospital requires at least 18 senior registrars in anaesthesia, 18 medical officers or women medical officers, nine surgical technologists, nine anaesthesia technologists, nine head nurses, 36 charge nurses, 18 junior technicians (surgical), 18 junior technicians (anaesthesia), along with sweepers and stretcher bearers.

Similarly, to operationalise a 50-bed ICU and other departments, the hospital needs one professor of anaesthesia/intensive care, five associate professors, 10 assistant professors, 20 senior registrars in anaesthesia, 20 in medicine, 35 medical officers, five head nurses, 50 charge nurses, physiotherapy technologists, pharmacists, and additional support staff including ward attendants and security personnel.

Healthcare professionals and residents have urged the Punjab Health Department to immediately address the staffing crisis by recruiting doctors, anaesthesia specialists, nursing, and technical staff. They stressed that timely action is essential for Nishtar-II to function at its full capacity and effectively reduce the burden on Nishtar Hospital-I.