Healthcare: K-P to sponsor cardio treatment at public hospitals

The patient’s financial background will be assessed to determine if he or she is eligible.

PESHAWAR: Much to the relief of poor patients, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday announced to provide free angiography and angioplasty at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

The Hayatabad Medical Complex will start a similar service in the future.

Provincial Minister for Health Syed Zahir Ali Shah announced the initiative in a gathering at the cardiology department of the LRH. He was flanked by the department’s head, Dr Muhammad Hafizullah, and chief executive Dr Arshad Javed.

“We are already providing Rs40 million in annual grants to these departments. An additional Rs100 million will be provided for free heart treatment for those who cannot afford it,” Shah said.

A special form will be issued to those patients requiring angiography and angioplasty, and a committee will then assess whether the patient is eligible. These tests are the most expensive ones and out of reach for the poor, added Shah.

Angiography is a medical imaging procedure used for visualisation of human blood vessels, particularly the arteries, veins and heart chambers. Angioplasty is a medical technique of mechanically widening narrowed or obstructed arteries using a balloon catheter, which is inserted and inflated using water pressure.

Javed said patients will be issued a form from a service window and the tests will be conducted within two hours.

“This is a big initiative taken by the provincial government, considering the outpatient department (OPD) at LRH receives around 5,000 patients daily,” said Javed, adding that he himself would assess the special forms and financial background of patients.

“Initially, the free facility will be relaxed, but if the budget is drained, we will become more conservative in our selection,” he added.

“We normally charge Rs12,000 for angiography and Rs90,000 for angioplasty. A total of 3,000 angiographies were carried out last year, out of which 700 were entitled, 38 free of cost, while the remaining were paid for by patients.”

In the four months still left for the current fiscal year, the K-P government has sanctioned Rs60 million of which LRH took Rs30 million, AMC Rs20 million and HMC Rs10 million.

Head of the cardiology department at LRH, Dr Hafizullah said a 300-bed cardio hospital being constructed in Hayatabad is nearing completion and will have seven operation theatres. It will become functional after the equipment is installed, he added.

Last month, LRH announced to provide free diagnostic facilities, including echocardiography, X-ray, Exercise Tolerance Test and ultrasounds to admitted patients, while the fees for visiting patients were reduced.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2013.