Govt has yet to compensate us for treating bomb blast victims, says LNH director
This year’s theme is saving patients, protecting doctors given the attacks on medical staff.
KARACHI:
While speakers at a briefing before the inauguration of the the seventh symposium of Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) lost no time in previewing the major seminars and group discussions to unfold in the next few days, the media got a rare opportunity to ask the hospital’s medical director, Dr Salman Faridi, about LNH’s affairs.
The director seemed only too willing to share certain information. He started off by saying that the government hasn’t compensated LNH for providing emergency treatment to bomb blast victims over the last four years. That sum, he said, runs into the “millions.”
On being asked about the admission fees it charges patients before admitting them, as well as the various donations or grants that it gets, Dr Faridi said that LNH is a nonprofit organisation but not a charity hospital and that it does not receive any grants either. He said that the hospital spends nearly Rs50 million on treating underprivileged patients.
Another major concern for doctors seemed to be handling accusations of malpractice. Dr Faridi mentioned some instances when agitated attendants of dead patients blamed LNH staff for negligence and filed criminal cases against them. He said that people should understand the difference between death caused by negligence and from compilations. He added that young doctors are reluctant to work in the emergency ward due to the aggressive attitude shown by patients’ attendants in the case of an unpleasant incident.
The LNH symposium will start from February 24 and continue until February 26. Training seminars will begin from today. Dr Ishrat Saleem, who is a senior consultant urologist at LNH and the chairperson of the hospital’s press and media committee, said that the theme for this year’s event is “saving patients, protecting doctors.”
The principal highlight, however, seems to be the inauguration of the Research Development Center, which is billed as an initiative to promote learning in a simulated environment. Dr Faridi said that in this case, doctors would not conduct medical trials and drug experiments on patients, but on mannequins and other animals, under controlled and artificial environments. Dr Shakil Aqil, who is in charge of the head and neck surgery unit at the ENT department, said that LNH has the largest postgraduate programme in the country, and produces trainees in 30 specialties.
Dr Saleem added that the symposium would provide learning opportunities in the form of 22 workshops, 10 skill development trainings and numerous video conferences, debates and other seminars. Nearly 3,000 doctors and medical specialists are expected to attend.
The training workshop in various fields of medicine will start from today, to be followed by scientific sessions on cardiology, brain tumors, neurology, gastroenterology, urology, oncology, gynecology, plastic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, pathology and others over the weekend. Discussions on medical ethics, including the termination of a pregnancy, would be held in the plenary sessions.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.
While speakers at a briefing before the inauguration of the the seventh symposium of Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) lost no time in previewing the major seminars and group discussions to unfold in the next few days, the media got a rare opportunity to ask the hospital’s medical director, Dr Salman Faridi, about LNH’s affairs.
The director seemed only too willing to share certain information. He started off by saying that the government hasn’t compensated LNH for providing emergency treatment to bomb blast victims over the last four years. That sum, he said, runs into the “millions.”
On being asked about the admission fees it charges patients before admitting them, as well as the various donations or grants that it gets, Dr Faridi said that LNH is a nonprofit organisation but not a charity hospital and that it does not receive any grants either. He said that the hospital spends nearly Rs50 million on treating underprivileged patients.
Another major concern for doctors seemed to be handling accusations of malpractice. Dr Faridi mentioned some instances when agitated attendants of dead patients blamed LNH staff for negligence and filed criminal cases against them. He said that people should understand the difference between death caused by negligence and from compilations. He added that young doctors are reluctant to work in the emergency ward due to the aggressive attitude shown by patients’ attendants in the case of an unpleasant incident.
The LNH symposium will start from February 24 and continue until February 26. Training seminars will begin from today. Dr Ishrat Saleem, who is a senior consultant urologist at LNH and the chairperson of the hospital’s press and media committee, said that the theme for this year’s event is “saving patients, protecting doctors.”
The principal highlight, however, seems to be the inauguration of the Research Development Center, which is billed as an initiative to promote learning in a simulated environment. Dr Faridi said that in this case, doctors would not conduct medical trials and drug experiments on patients, but on mannequins and other animals, under controlled and artificial environments. Dr Shakil Aqil, who is in charge of the head and neck surgery unit at the ENT department, said that LNH has the largest postgraduate programme in the country, and produces trainees in 30 specialties.
Dr Saleem added that the symposium would provide learning opportunities in the form of 22 workshops, 10 skill development trainings and numerous video conferences, debates and other seminars. Nearly 3,000 doctors and medical specialists are expected to attend.
The training workshop in various fields of medicine will start from today, to be followed by scientific sessions on cardiology, brain tumors, neurology, gastroenterology, urology, oncology, gynecology, plastic surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, pathology and others over the weekend. Discussions on medical ethics, including the termination of a pregnancy, would be held in the plenary sessions.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 19th, 2012.