Patients at Risk: Hospitals severely affected by power cuts

PESHAWAR: Doctors, attendants and patients at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) are among those suffering from load-shedding in the province.

Although many wards in the hospital are provided generators, there are many areas in the hospital where patients are still suffering, particularly in the emergency and operation theatres and surgical wards.

A surgeon at LRH, Dr Haider Shah, said that all patients needed uninterrupted power supply to help their recovery. “LRH is the biggest hospital in the province and we receive large number of emergency cases, particularly after iftar,” he explained. LRH also receives many patients suffering from illnesses caused by the heat.

He said some of the worst cases caused by load-shedding were when patients had been administered anaesthesia but had to remain in operating theatres for hours as the power had been suspended and theatres could not fully function.

Dr Shah further said that generators were not fully reliable as they had to be turned off when they overheated in order to avoid damage.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 30^th, 2012.