Patient dies en route to Bahawalpur hospital

Medical Superintendent says that machine's UPS was not working properly.

RAHIM YAR KHAN: A 50 year old critically injured patient died en route to Bahawalpur from Rahim Yar Khan on Tuesday after having been turned away from Sheikh Zayed Hospital for a CT scan.

According to details, Wazeer Ali of Zahir Pir, Rahim Yar Khan had received a head injury in an accident, hence advised by doctors to get a CT scan for it.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Ali’s relative Asim said that when they contacted the CT Scan center at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, they were told that the machine was not functional for the past 20 days hence deciding to move the 50 year old to the Bahawalpur Victoria hospital. Ali died on the way succumbing to his injuries.

According to sources, X-Ray machine films were also not available in the hospital, causing problems to patients. When contacted, the Medical Superintendent (MS) at Sheikh Zayed Hospital Capt (R) Mushtaq Ahmed said that their UPS system was not working properly.

“We have submitted an application to the Punjab Government in this regard but no reply has been received from them yet.”

Locals have appealed to the government to take strict action against the responsible personnel, who were more interested in raking up handsome salaries instead of attending to people’s problems.