Life-savers in need of saving

Pims emergency ward lacks senior doctors, proper equipment and hygienic conditions.

ISLAMABAD: Lack of senior doctors, proper equipment and hygienic conditions at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Emergency Ward has resulted in many complaints and concerns. According to Mehmood Jamal, Executive Director Pims, more than 1,000 patients visit the hospital’s emergency ward every day.

“This is one of the largest emergency wards but unfortunately shortage of professional staff leaves patients at the mercy of junior trainees,” Jamal told The Express Tribune. Disgruntled patients at the Emergency Ward, unhappy with the services being offered to them, felt that serious steps needed to be taken to solve these problems.

“We pay good money to come here, but are treated like dirt,” complained Faheem Ajmal, a resident of G-7. “We expect a certain level of professionalism when we come here and instead we are greeted by doctors who make us feel like they are doing us a favour,” said Saleem Khan, a patient at the Emergency Ward.

Talking to The Express Tribune, a senior physician on the condition of anonymity said that one of the main reasons behind not having well-trained staff in the emergency ward was that the majority of senior doctors were unhappy with the “stressful” work environment.

“Many patients that are not treated on time have died because trainees are busy chatting,” said a senior doctor.

The Express Tribune learnt that the Emergency Ward had no proper system in place to record the details of patients that came to the ward. “They just write the details on a piece of paper that usually gets lost,” said an official.

Machines in the ward are outdated and do not function properly. Patients have also complained of the unhygienic conditions at the hospital. “The bathrooms are disgusting and almost impossible to use without fear of fainting,” complained Salman, a patient.

Admitting to the lack of facilities in the Emergency Ward, Jehanzaib Aurakzai, official spokesperson for Pims, said that the problems currently being faced by the ward will be addressed shortly. “We will soon be extending more resources to fill the shortcomings in the department,” he said. According to Aurakzai, the department is in the process of hiring new doctors and purchasing new equipment. “We are introducing a computerised system to record the data of patients visiting the emergency”, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.