The story of a time when medical care was free for all

Locals complain of negligence in Swat’s two major hospitals.

SWAT:

There ain’t nothing like old times, especially for Swatis, who cannot help but reminisce about the period when Swat was a princely state. The two major hospitals established in Saidu Sharif (the capital of Swat back time) provided free and prompt treatment to everyone, and the system was monitored and controlled by none other than late Wali-e-Swat Miangul Jahanzeb himself.

However, since the merger of Swat state with Pakistan, “the entire system has been corrupted,” commented Iftikhar Khan, a resident of Banadai. “Now we plead before the government to provide us the basic hospital facilities. But they pay no heed.”

Standing in a long queue outside the medical specialist’s office, Khan said the day before he waited for hours in line to have his son checked by the doctor. He said the doctor came an hour late and then refused to attend the patients. “The doctors here take a considerable pause before checking a new patient. I don’t know when my turn will come,” said Khan as he stood among a large number of tired patients.

The two hospitals, under the title of Saidu Group of Hospitals, are visited not only by the people of Swat District but the entire division. The patients have often complained of the “disinterested and harsh attitude” of the hospitals’ medical staff.

Noor Bibi, a patient, told The Express Tribune that she was refused an x-ray by the hospital’s x-ray operator claiming that they were out of x-ray films. “The operator referred me to a private lab for an x-ray. But I am a poor widow, I can’t afford an x-ray at a private clinic,” she remarked.

She said the hospital does not even provide medicines anymore and the patients are told to buy them from medical stores. “During Wali sb’s kingship every facility was provided free of charge at the same hospital,” she said.

The hospital’s medical officer said, “We receive a large number of patients from the entire division and we are doing all we can to accommodate them within our resources.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2011.