Performance issues: Absence of senior doctors adds to patients’ agony

Patients complain the doctors hardly show up at OPDs.

RAWALPINDI:

Sumaira came all the way from Kashmir with her sick four-year-old child to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) for a surgery advised and referred to by a doctor at the Holy Family Hospital (HFH).

She said that she visited the surgical ward of the hospital twice on Saturday but, to her utter frustration, no senior surgeon showed up to carry out the requisite surgery on the child, who has a tumour in her abdomen.

“We arrived in the city two days back, spent days in a local hotel but still waiting for a senior doctor to arrive and conduct the surgery child,” she said.

Patients and their attendants had an altercation with a postgraduate trainee at the hospital, after he told them that he had called the senior doctors to reach the hospital as soon as possible.

While visiting the hospital, one can see patients wait for hours in queues outside the outpatient departments (OPDs).

“You will hardly find senior doctors in OPDs,” said Muhammad Najeeb, a resident of Dhamyal.

The Express Tribune learnt that senior doctors rarely examine patients in the OPDs.

“They prefer to examine them in their clinics after official duty hours and ask patients to visit there,” said a junior doctor. “They do this just to fleece high fees by asking patients to carry out expensive tests in private labs.”

“I am a daily-wager and earn Rs350 daily, which is hardly enough to make both ends meet. How can I afford a fee they demand at their clinics,” said Wajid, Sumaira’s husband.

Both the teaching hospitals have 70 to 80 specialists who are supposed to see patients at OPDs from 9am to 2pm, but junior doctors claimed that the senior doctors only see those patients who are referred to them or those who are their relatives and friends.

In 2005, the provincial government had warned senior doctors against absenteeism from OPDs but they paid no heed to the warning.

When contacted, Dr Umer, administrator of the three government teaching hospitals — Benazir Bhutto Hospital, HFH and DHQ Hospital — expressed ignorance of the situation but hastened to add that he will take note of issue.

“I have received no such complaints from patients. Strict action will be taken against absent doctors if I am informed,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2013.